Hard drives are an important component of computers and data storage systems. The capacity of a hard drive refers to how much data it can hold, with common measurements being gigabytes (GB) and terabytes (TB). As technology has advanced over the years, hard drive capacities have steadily increased to hold more and more data. A terabyte (TB) is an immense amount of data storage, but what exactly does 1TB look like in practical terms? This article will provide an overview of what 1TB of hard drive capacity means in various contexts.
We’ll start by defining what a terabyte is and providing some historical context on hard drive capacities. Then we’ll look at how much of different types of files like photos, videos, and music would fill up 1TB. Some real-world examples will help conceptualize that volume of data storage. We’ll also cover current 1TB hard drives on the market, look at pricing, and discuss alternatives to 1TB drives. By the end, you should have a solid understanding of the immense storage capacity represented by a 1TB hard drive.
Definition of a Terabyte
A terabyte (TB) is a unit of digital data storage that equals 1 trillion bytes (Technically, it’s 240 or 1,099,511,627,776 bytes to be precise). In decimal terms, a terabyte is 1,000 gigabytes (GB) (Merriam-Webster, 2022). A gigabyte is roughly 1 billion bytes. So a 1 terabyte hard drive can hold approximately 1,000 gigabytes of data. This makes a terabyte a relatively large unit of digital information.
The terabyte is part of the International System of Units (SI) for measuring computer memory and storage capacity. The prefixes for SI units represent powers of 10, so ‘tera’ means 1012. The development of the terabyte shows how much data storage capacities have grown over time. Hard disk drive capacities were traditionally measured in megabytes first, then gigabytes, and now terabytes are common for most computing devices and servers (TechTarget, 2022).
History of Hard Drive Capacities
Hard drive capacities have increased exponentially over the past several decades. In 1956, IBM released the first commercial hard drive, the 305 RAMAC, which had a capacity of only 5MB [1]. By 1980, capacities increased to 5-10MB for use in personal computers [2]. Over the 1990s and early 2000s, typical hard drive capacities for PCs were in the range of 500MB to 1GB. Fast forward to today and consumer hard drives are available at capacities up to 18TB for desktop PCs and laptops.
The growth of hard drive capacities closely follows formulate like Kryder’s law, which predicts a doubling of density every 2 years. Some key milestones include the first 1GB drive in 1991, the first 10GB drive in 1997, 100GB in 2002, and 1TB in 2007 [3]. Today multi-TB drives are common for most home and business users. The massive increase in capacities has enabled users to store far more data and completely new types of content, like high definition videos, lossless audio, and large photo libraries.
What Files Take Up Storage
One of the biggest storage space hogs is video files. For example, according to this source, a full HD 1080p movie file is generally between 1.2 – 1.4GB. A 4K ultra HD movie can be anywhere from 2.8 – 3GB. Video files for TV shows, home movies, gameplay videos etc also quickly add up and take up storage space.
According to this source, one hour of 1080p video recorded at standard settings ranges from 3-9GB. So just a few hours of high definition homemade video footage can easily fill up a 1TB hard drive. The exact file size depends on many factors like frame rate, bit rate, codecs etc.
In summary, large multimedia files like high resolution photos, HD and 4K video files take up significant storage capacity and require large hard drives like 1TB models.
How Many Photos or Songs in 1TB
To determine how much media a 1TB hard drive can hold, we need to do some simple math based on average file sizes. For photos, the average size of a JPEG image is about 4MB. For songs, if we assume the MP3 format at 320kbps quality, the average size of an MP3 file is approximately 5MB.
So for photos, 1TB equates to:
1,000,000 MB (1TB) / 4MB (average photo size) = 250,000 photos
And for songs in MP3 format, we get:
1,000,000 MB (1TB) / 5MB (average song size) = 200,000 songs
To summarize, a 1TB hard drive can hold roughly 250,000 average-sized JPEG photos or 200,000 average-sized MP3 songs. This provides a helpful benchmark for understanding the large media storage capacity of 1TB.
Real-World Examples of 1TB Storage Capacity
A 1TB hard drive can store a massive amount of data. Here are some concrete examples of just how much you can fit:
Photos:
– Up to 250,000 average 10MB photos from a smartphone camera
– Or up to 125,000 20MB high resolution DSLR photos
Music:
– Around 250,000 4MB MP3 songs
– Or up to 31,250 lossless CD-quality songs
Video:
– 100 hours of 1080p high definition video
– Or 200 one-hour standard definition videos
Games:
– Around 25 AAA console games at 40GB each
– Hundreds of smaller indie games
Documents:
– Over 200,000 Word documents or PDFs
In summary, 1TB can hold your entire digital photo collection, thousands of songs, 100+ hours of HD video, dozens of games, and tons of documents.
1TB Hard Drives on the Market
There are many 1TB hard drive options on the market today from top brands like Western Digital, Seagate, Toshiba, and Samsung. Most 1TB hard drives fall into one of three categories – internal hard drives, external portable hard drives, and external desktop hard drives.
Popular portable 1TB external hard drive models include the WD My Passport at around $50, the Seagate Backup Plus Slim at around $55, and the Samsung T5 Portable SSD at around $110. These drives connect via USB and are powered by the USB cable.
For desktop external drives, top options include the WD Elements Desktop at around $45 and the Seagate Expansion Desktop at around $50. These drives require a separate power source but offer larger capacities.
Internal SATA hard drives with 1TB capacity typically range from around $40 to $60 from brands like Seagate and WD. These are designed to be installed inside a desktop computer.
So in summary, there are many affordable 1TB drive options on the market to suit different needs.
Price of 1TB Hard Drives
The price of 1TB hard drives has dropped significantly over the past decade. In 2007, a 1TB drive retailed for around $399 (Source: Amazon). Today, 1TB hard drives can be purchased for under $50 in many cases.
For example, on Amazon you can currently find 1TB internal hard drives starting around $45 from brands like Seagate and Western Digital (Source: Amazon). External portable 1TB hard drives are also very affordable, with models from Toshiba, Seagate, and Western Digital available for $45-$60.
At big box consumer electronics stores like Best Buy, 1TB internal hard drives range from around $40 to $100 depending on speed, form factor, and other features (Source: Best Buy). So while prices have come down dramatically, there is still variance based on performance needs.
Overall, the commoditization of 1TB drives means they are more affordable than ever for the average consumer. For basic storage needs, 1TB hard drives deliver a lot of capacity at a very low cost compared to SSDs and higher performance options.
Alternatives to 1TB Drives
While 1TB hard drives offer a lot of storage capacity, there are some alternatives worth considering depending on your needs:
Cloud storage services like Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive allow you to store files and access them from anywhere. They provide ample free storage (usually 15GB-20GB) with affordable paid plans to get 1TB or more of cloud storage. Cloud storage lets you access files across devices and share them easily. However, you need an internet connection to access the files.
External solid state drives (SSDs) have faster read/write speeds and better durability than hard disk drives. A 1TB SSD costs more but provides quicker access to your files and data.
Wireless portable hard drives like WD My Passport Wireless let you take your files with you without cables and access them from mobile devices. The built-in WiFi creates its own network so you can view and transfer files wirelessly.
While cloud storage offers convenience and SSDs offer speed, external hard drives like 1TB models remain a reliable way to store large amounts of data and access files from multiple computers.
Conclusion
In summary, a 1TB hard drive offers a massive amount of storage space equivalent to approximately:
- 1,000 gigabytes
- 1,000,000 megabytes
- 500,000 photos
- 250,000 songs
1TB drives provide ample capacity for most home users to store photos, videos, documents, games, and media collections. Prices have also dropped considerably, with 1TB portable external hard drives available for under $50. While newer solid state drives are faster, traditional hard disk drives like the 1TB models remain a popular and affordable choice for expanding storage.