An exabyte archive
An exabyte archive is a digital storage system capable of holding extremely large datasets, often used by major organisations or data centres.
How big is it?
1 EB · data
Data · example
A little perspective
An exabyte archive vs DNA storage theoretical capacity per gram: data size comparison
The data size of an exabyte archive is about 4.65 times the theoretical DNA storage capacity per gram.
BYTES OF DATA
An exabyte archive is a digital storage system capable of holding extremely large datasets, often used by major organisations or data centres.
DNA storage theoretical capacity per gram is the maximum amount of digital information that can be encoded in one gram of DNA under ideal conditions.
Measurements, assumptions & sources +
An exabyte archive
Data: 1 EB; example.
A defined 1 EB decimal data amount; no claim about a named service.
Defined examples — our methodology
The marked data is calibrated. Unmeasured illustration details are representative.
DNA storage theoretical capacity per gram
Theoretical bytes per gram: 215 PB; theoretical; range 100 PB–300 PB.
A theoretical information density of about 215 petabytes per gram of DNA under an idealised encoding model. Real systems require addressing, error correction, redundancy, containers and retrieval machinery, reducing practical density.
Harvard Wyss Institute — DNA data storage
The marked theoretical bytes per gram is calibrated. Unmeasured illustration details are representative.
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Why this measurement?
Why we use 1 EB
We compare the data size of an exabyte archive. This is an illustrative comparison value, not a claim that every example is the same.
A defined 1 EB decimal data amount; no claim about a named service.
The picture identifies the subject; the diagram compares the recorded values. How calibrated comparisons work →
Recorded properties
Dimensions and measurements
| Property | Selected value | Recorded range | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 EB | Not recorded | example |
Around this scale
Explore nearby values.
Compare examples with lower, similar and higher values. Each card names the measurement being compared.
Nearest lower valueDigital informationDNA storage theoretical capacity per gram215 PBTheoretical bytes per gramDNA storage theoretical capacity per gram is the maximum amount of digital information that can be encoded in one gram of DNA under ideal conditions.
Nearest higher valueDigital informationA zettabyte of data1 ZBDataA zettabyte of data is a term used to describe an immense quantity of digital information, often in the context of global data generation or storage.Sources and method
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DigitalA petabyte archive1 PBA petabyte archive is a digital storage system designed to retain very large collections of data for long-term access.DigitalA zettabyte of data1 ZBA zettabyte of data is a term used to describe an immense quantity of digital information, often in the context of global data generation or storage.DigitalCommon Crawl June 2025 WARC snapshot91 TBThe Common Crawl monthly web snapshot is a large, publicly available collection of web pages and related data gathered by automated crawlers each month.