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In the computer world, large-number prefixes (kilo-, mega-, giga-, etc.)
usually refer to powers of 2, but are sometimes used in their original
senses, to refer to powers of 10. In particular, large-number prefixes that
refer
to bits per second (as in Kbps, Mbps, and Gbps) mean powers of 10. Large-number
prefixes
that refer to memory (as in KB, MB, and GB) mean powers of 2. Fortunately, this
ambiguity does not exist for small-number prefixes (milli-, micro-, nano-,
etc.),
which always refer to (negative) powers of 10. Logically enough, the small-
number
prefixes are abbreviated with lowercase letters (the lowercase Greek letter
µ
(mu) in the case of micro-), and large-number prefixes are abbreviated with
capitals.
Similarly, "bit" is abbreviated as "b", while "byte", a larger unit, is
abbreviated as "B".
| prefix |
abbreviation |
binary |
unit of memory |
decimal |
unit of bandwidth |
| kilo- |
K |
1,024 (210) |
KB |
1,000 (103) |
Kbps |
| mega- |
M |
1,048,576 (220) |
MB |
1,000,000 (106) |
Mbps |
| giga- |
G |
230 |
GB |
109 |
Gbps |
| tera- |
T |
240 |
TB |
1012 |
Tbps |
| peta- |
P |
250 |
PB |
1015 |
Pbps |
| exa- |
E |
260 |
EB |
1018 |
Ebps |
| zetta- |
Z |
270 |
ZB |
1021 |
Zbps |
| yotta- |
Y |
280 |
YB |
1024 |
Ybps |
Hyphenation: phrases that form unit modifiers should usually be hyphenated
for clarity. This does not mean that the same phrase should be hyphenated
when it is not being used as a unit modifier. "Best-effort service is not
meeting our needs", but "The only type of service offered in today's Internet
is best effort."
To avoid ambiguity when referring to committees and working groups,
make sure that the first reference to the group specifies what larger
organization
it is part of: "the Internet2 Topology Working Group". Many organizations,
like Internet2 and the IETF, have separate working groups working on the same
things
under the same names.
Acronyms and abbreviations are not the same thing. An abbreviation is any
shorter form of a longer term. If an abbreviation is both a) formed only from
individual
letters of a phrase, as vs. incorporating entire syllables (example: "LDAP" vs. "gigaPoP") and
b) pronounced as a word, as opposed to being spelled out, then it is considered
an acronym. "BoF" is an acronym; "BGP" is an abbreviation.
Plurals of abbreviations and acronyms are formed by adding "s" or "es",
according to how the abbreviation or acronym is pronounced. "SLAs", but
"SLSes". The same principle applies to choosing "a" or "an": "an NGIX",
but "a NOC".
A term which is not normally capitalized should not be capitalized just
because a capital-letter abbreviation for it is given. "This device
is called a bandwidth broker (BB)." The exception is when the writer wants
to show the reader the origin of a non-obvious abbreviation or acronym: "This BB
uses
RSVP (resource ReSerVation Protocol)." Here there is little danger of the
reader thinking that this is the normal way to write "resource reservation
protocol".
Two f-words to avoid: functionality and facilitate. These
words are unnecessary polysyllabic jargon, and are badly overused already.
Try "functions" or "features", and "help" or "promote".
Avoid most "-ize" words. In particular, "use" is much better than "utilize".
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