Data Unit Measurement Standards in MSP360 and Other Storage Providers/Vendors

Overview

ADifferent vendors use different standards when measuring and reporting data sizes. These differences can cause apparent discrepancies in storage usage when the same data is viewed across platforms.

This article explains how MSP360 calculates data units, compares those calculations with other major vendors, and provides a reference table and calculator to convert between units.

MSP360 Data Unit Definitions

MSP360 uses binary-based units (base-2), which are commonly used in backup, storage, and operating system contexts.

• 1 KB (Kilobyte) = 1,024 bytes
• 1 GB (Gigabyte) = 1,024³ bytes (1,073,741,824 bytes) This means MSP360 reports data sizes using binary divisors, even when the unit name is shown as KB or GB.

Vendor Comparison Table

The table below shows how different vendors define their data units and which divisor they use when calculating storage size. | Vendor | Unit Name Used | Divisor | | ----- | ----- | ----- | | MSP360 | KB / GB | 1024 | | Amazon | GiB | 1024 | | Microsoft (Windows) | GB | 1024 | | iDrive | GB | 1024 | | Wasabi | GB | 1024 | | Backblaze B2 | GB | 1000 | | macOS | GB | 1000 |

Notes

• A divisor of 1024 indicates binary (base-2) measurement.
• A divisor of 1000 indicates decimal (base-10) measurement.
• Vendors using decimal units may report a larger numerical value for the same amount of stored data.

Why Sizes Appear Different

When data measured in MSP360 is displayed in a platform that uses decimal units (such as macOS or Backblaze B2), the reported size appears larger.

Example

326 GB in MSP360 (binary)

Appears as approximately 350 GB in macOS (decimal)

This difference is expected and does not indicate additional data usage.