====== Kilo (k) ======

[[SI unit]] prefix meaning 1,000 (or one thousand). In networking terms, the //kilo// prefix is normally associated with the link capacity ([[bandwidth]]) of a low speed network link, such as RS-232 serial link, or a domestic telephone modem. In this context the term //baud// is often used to define the "line speed", where 9,600 baud is 9.6 kbit/s. 

A common error made by computing students is to assume that, because powers of two are used everywhere else, it is used in the definition of bandwidth too. That is 1 kbit/s should be 2^10 (= 1,024) bit/s: it isn't! The SI system uses the prefix //ki// (pronounced kibi) to represent 2^10: thus when computer manufacturers quote file-sizes in terms of kilobytes (when they **do** intend to mean that 1 kbyte is 1024 bytes) they should actually use 1 kibyte.

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