What is the actual capacity of a 1TB SSD? In everyone’s mind, 1TB = 1024GB, but after receiving the SSD, you realize that the actual capacity is not that big. Today, Bestoss will tell you this.
Differences in Capacity Standards:
- Computer Science Standard: In computer science, storage capacity is often represented using powers of 2, meaning 1TB is equal to 2^40 bytes (1,099,511,627,776 bytes). This is the standard in binary counting.
- Manufacturer’s Standard: Storage device manufacturers typically use decimal counting and define 1TB as 1,000,000,000,000 bytes. This is a commercial standard and is more easily understood in base-10 counting.
As a result of these two different standards, the actual capacity of a 1TB SSD is approximately 931GB in the computer science standard and approximately 1,000GB in the manufacturer’s standard.
Other Factors Affecting Capacity: In addition to capacity standards, the actual capacity of an SSD is influenced by the following factors:
- File System: File systems require some space to store metadata and the file system structure. This file system overhead typically occupies a small portion of the storage device’s capacity.
- Garbage Collection and Lifespan Management: SSDs require extra space for garbage collection, data balancing, and managing the lifespan of storage units. These operations also reduce available capacity.
- Reserved Capacity: Manufacturers typically reserve some capacity on the SSD to account for storage unit failures and performance maintenance. This reserved capacity isn’t displayed as available space.
- Operating System: The operating system typically occupies some storage space for system files and the OS itself.
Therefore, when you purchase a 1TB SSD, the actual usable capacity may be slightly less than 1TB. This is normal and applies to all storage devices. This capacity difference does not significantly impact the device’s performance or usability, but it’s worth considering when storing large amounts of data.
