Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
PB

PB

4 6.9
A very large amount of digital data equal to about 1,000 terabytes
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : PB
  • With advancements in technology, transferring PB of data has become much faster.

Examples

  • The SciDB database, a PB-scale next-generation database optimized for science applications, is an excellent example of such collaboration.

    Academic text (2011)

  • The company stores vast amounts of data, reaching up to several PB of information.

  • Should never occur with PB, as it will result in the loss of said PB.

    Blog text (6)

  • Expanding techniques such as this to PB-scale data is an important next step.

    Academic text (2011)

  • In recent years, cloud storage options have increased to accommodate PB-sized files.

Synonyms

petabyte
vsPB
  • Specialized
2 7.2

A very large unit of computer storage equal to about one thousand terabytes

is the abbreviation used instead of the full term

How Big

exabyte
  • Specialized
2 9.6
PB
  • Specialized
4 6.9
terabyte
  • Specialized
8 4.1
gigabyte
  • Specialized
13 2.7
megabyte
  • Specialized
10 3.0
kilobyte
  • Specialized
4 3.6

Surface Forms

PB singular
PBs plural

Etymology

PB stands for peta + byte, a name for a very large amount of digital data. The byte is the common unit for computer storage, and peta comes from a Greek root meaning 'five', as in pentagon, because a peta is 1,000 multiplied by itself five times, so PB means a huge number of bytes.