Hard Disk Drives Capacity Limits

**Hardware Secrets Team** · 09-30-2007, 09:49 PM

There has been a new article posted.

Title: Hard Disk Drives Capacity Limits
URL: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/482

Here is a snippet:
"You may have heard about or even experienced yourself the problem of buying a new hard disk drive to install on your old (and sometimes not that old) machine and facing some size limitation, i.e. your..."

Comments on this article are welcome.

Best regards,
Hardware Secrets Team
http://www.hardwaresecrets.com

Zxian · 08-14-2008, 02:04 PM

While the background information about the limitations is interesting, you're forgetting the most useful tool to "break" the 2TB limit.

The 2TB limit in Windows doesn't have anything to do with partitions or block sizes or anything of the sort - it has to do with the MBR format that's become standard over the past several years.

While this doesn't apply to XP 32-bit, GPT disks are a much better solution to breaking the 2TB barrier. Windows XP x64, Server 2003 (all versions), and all versions of Vista and Server 2008 can create and access GPT based disks, and they can be booted from GPT disks as long as the system supports EFI.

For linux systems, the XFS file system can natively support volumes larger than 2TB, and last time I checked, HFS+ can do the same for OSX.

**Gabriel Torres** · 08-14-2008, 04:38 PM

Thanks for your educational remark!

I will try to update the tutorial with this info.

Cheers,
Gabriel.

Kn1bbl · 11-11-2009, 12:11 AM

Hi, this page is actually wrong.

Only because computer scientists handled the giga a bit lousy, this does not mean, that giga gets a new value. A giga is and always was 10 to the power 30 and not 2 to the power 30. This is was the name giga says!

What you are talking about is gibibyte. And when hdd producers say GB instead of GiB, they are just right.

Please do not spread information, that works versus number values which are set since hundreds of years!

Pls excuse my english.

**Gabriel Torres** · 11-11-2009, 08:49 AM

Hello,

The concept of Gigibyte is rather new and not widespread adopted. It was created just because hard disk drive manufacturers use the wrong definition of gigabyte/megabyte, IMHO.

And you are the one that is actually wrong, 2^30 is GiB and 10^6 is GB and not the other way around as you posted, according to the new system.

Cheers,
Gabriel.

Kn1bbl · 11-11-2009, 09:00 AM

Gibi was not invented by manufactors. It is teached in Universities since years.

And please look what Giga means. 2 to the power 30 is simply wrong.

I do not say, that the manufactors do not use this kind of tricky. But they are right. And I did not mix up Giga and Gibi, just wrote one 30 instead of a 9.

Please consult any Computer Scientist, if you do not believe me.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giga-
Enough to believe it?

Phaedrus · 11-11-2009, 06:58 PM

Gibibyte = 2^30 bytes
Gigabyte = 10^6 bytes.

Fact. Also works with kilo/kibi and mega/mebi. The familiar terms (kilo, mega, giga) are the traditional power of ten terms, while the ones ending in "bi" are, naturally, the binary (power of two) terms.

Kn1bbl · 11-12-2009, 10:52 PM

Thanks for the support.

09-30-2007, 09:49 PM	#1
Hardware Secrets Team Administrator Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 2,952	Hard Disk Drives Capacity Limits There has been a new article posted. Title: Hard Disk Drives Capacity Limits URL: http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/482 Here is a snippet: "You may have heard about or even experienced yourself the problem of buying a new hard disk drive to install on your old (and sometimes not that old) machine and facing some size limitation, i.e. your..." Comments on this article are welcome. Best regards, Hardware Secrets Team http://www.hardwaresecrets.com

11-11-2009, 08:49 AM	#5
Gabriel Torres Administrator Join Date: Oct 2004 USA Posts: 2,553	Hello, The concept of Gigibyte is rather new and not widespread adopted. It was created just because hard disk drive manufacturers use the wrong definition of gigabyte/megabyte, IMHO. And you are the one that is actually wrong, 2^30 is GiB and 10^6 is GB and not the other way around as you posted, according to the new system. Cheers, Gabriel. Last edited by Gabriel Torres; 11-11-2009 at 08:53 AM. __________________ Editor-in-Chief Hardware Secrets http://www.hardwaresecrets.com

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08-14-2008, 02:04 PM	#2
Zxian Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 1	While the background information about the limitations is interesting, you're forgetting the most useful tool to "break" the 2TB limit. The 2TB limit in Windows doesn't have anything to do with partitions or block sizes or anything of the sort - it has to do with the MBR format that's become standard over the past several years. While this doesn't apply to XP 32-bit, GPT disks are a much better solution to breaking the 2TB barrier. Windows XP x64, Server 2003 (all versions), and all versions of Vista and Server 2008 can create and access GPT based disks, and they can be booted from GPT disks as long as the system supports EFI. For linux systems, the XFS file system can natively support volumes larger than 2TB, and last time I checked, HFS+ can do the same for OSX.

08-14-2008, 04:38 PM	#3
Gabriel Torres Administrator Join Date: Oct 2004 USA Posts: 2,553	Thanks for your educational remark! I will try to update the tutorial with this info. Cheers, Gabriel.

11-11-2009, 12:11 AM	#4
Kn1bbl Junior Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Posts: 3	Hi, this page is actually wrong. Only because computer scientists handled the giga a bit lousy, this does not mean, that giga gets a new value. A giga is and always was 10 to the power 30 and not 2 to the power 30. This is was the name giga says! What you are talking about is gibibyte. And when hdd producers say GB instead of GiB, they are just right. Please do not spread information, that works versus number values which are set since hundreds of years! Pls excuse my english.

11-11-2009, 09:00 AM	#6
Kn1bbl Junior Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Posts: 3	Gibi was not invented by manufactors. It is teached in Universities since years. And please look what Giga means. 2 to the power 30 is simply wrong. I do not say, that the manufactors do not use this kind of tricky. But they are right. And I did not mix up Giga and Gibi, just wrote one 30 instead of a 9. Please consult any Computer Scientist, if you do not believe me. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giga- Enough to believe it?

11-11-2009, 06:58 PM	#7
Phaedrus Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 34	Gibibyte = 2^30 bytes Gigabyte = 10^6 bytes. Fact. Also works with kilo/kibi and mega/mebi. The familiar terms (kilo, mega, giga) are the traditional power of ten terms, while the ones ending in "bi" are, naturally, the binary (power of two) terms.

11-12-2009, 10:52 PM	#8
Kn1bbl Junior Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Posts: 3	Thanks for the support.