What Does 100 MB Web Mean?

Computers work by reading and writing tiny information units called bits. It takes 8 bits to make a byte and 1024 bytes to make a kilobyte, or KB. A megabyte consists of 1024 kilobytes. This means that a 100MB file is about 1000 times larger than a 100Kb file. Megabyte and kilobyte don't just refer to the amount of data that resides on a hard drive. The Internet works by transferring data packets from one computer to another. The term 100MB may also refer to the amount of information a Web server sends to another Web server or to your browser. Bandwidth refers to the maximum amount of data a device can transmit over the Internet or a network.

If you review hosting companies that offer to host a website for you, those companies may offer you various priced hosting packages whose prices vary according to factors such as bandwidth and data usage. You'll often see MB values in a table that compare the features that multiple plans provide. For instance, if a company says that you get 100MB of storage for $5 per month, it usually means that you can store up to 100MB of information on the company's servers. It's important to review these terms and conditions before signing up for the plan. If your storage needs exceed 100MB, compare plans carefully and ensure that you don't upgrade to one that provides more data storage than you need.

Hosting companies aren't the only entities that may place limits on data use. Free blog sites could post guidelines that prevent people from creating blogs that exceed a certain size. A video sharing site might also limit the sizes of videos you can upload. If you share images on a social media site, it could set limits on the sizes of pictures you share as well as one on the total amount of space your images consume. Check a site's help page to determine its data policy. Since video files can become large, ensure that a video sharing site allows you to store large videos if those are the type you like to share.

As of June, 2013, Google +Photos, Google Drive and Gmail offer customers 15GB of free storage. Microsoft SkyDrive, another free hosting service, gave people 7GB of free storage on the same date. While these values are much larger than 100MB, it's still important to manage your data to sharing sites wisely. It doesn't take many large data items, such as video files, to run out of disk space. If that happens, you'll need to delete files or purchase additional space.