Zettabyte (ZB)

10²¹ bytes. Used for estimates of global data volumes.

1 zettabyte = 1×10²¹ bytes (exactly).

About the zettabyte

Global data volumes are now large enough that the zettabyte, 10^21 bytes, has become a headline unit. It is decimal: 1,000 exabytes, or a trillion gigabytes, and the symbol is ZB. The prefix zetta was added to the SI in 1991 alongside yotta, and the binary counterpart is the zebibyte (ZiB), 2^70 bytes, which is about 18 percent larger.

Wikipedia's article on the Zettabyte Era puts the point when total digital data first passed one zettabyte at 2012. It also records Cisco's estimate that global IP network traffic first topped one zettabyte in 2016, at about 1.2 ZB, or roughly 96 exabytes a month. IDC forecasts quoted there projected annual data generation reaching 175 ZB by 2025, though such figures are estimates of data created rather than data kept, and they vary between analysts.

Almost nothing is stored in single zettabyte devices, so the unit matters mainly for industry totals.

Sources: Wikipedia: Zettabyte Era; Wikipedia: Metric prefix; Wikipedia: Byte

Zettabyte conversion chart

1 zettabyte expressed in every other digital storage unit:

Unit	1 zettabyte
Bytes	1×10²¹
Kilobytes	1×10¹⁸
Megabytes	1×10¹⁵
Gigabytes	1,000,000,000,000
Terabytes	1,000,000,000
Bits	8×10²¹
Petabytes	1,000,000
Kibibytes	9.765625×10¹⁷
Mebibytes	953,674,316,406,250
Gibibytes	931,322,574,615
Tebibytes	909,494,701.8
Kilobits	8×10¹⁸
Megabits	8×10¹⁵
Gigabits	8,000,000,000,000
Exabytes	1,000
Yottabytes	0.001
Pebibytes	888,178.4197
Exbibytes	867.361738
Terabits	8,000,000,000
Kibibits	7.8125×10¹⁸
Mebibits	7.629394531×10¹⁵
Gibibits	7,450,580,596,924
Nibbles	2×10²¹

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