A unit of measurement that is often misleading

I often see people confuse the time and space units of Nginx, which is especially prevalent among beginners. One measure unit that most often misleads them is an m letter, which can be expressed either as megabytes or as minutes.

Space Measurement Units

Bytes

1
1024    # A unit without a suffix letter stands for bytes.

Kilobytes

1
8k    # A unit with a suffix letter 'k' or 'K' stands for kilobytes.

Megabytes

1
1m    # A unit with a suffix letter 'm' or 'M' stands for megabytes.

Unit conversion common sense review

This is for absolute non technical beginners:

  • 8 bits = 1 byte
  • 1024 bytes = 1 kilobyte
  • 1024 kilobytes = 1 megabyte
  • 1024 megabytes = 1 gigabyte

Time Measurement Units

Milliseconds

1
1000ms    # A unit with two suffix letters 'ms' stands for milliseconds.

Seconds

1
60s    # A unit with a suffix letter 's' stands for seconds.

Minutes

1
60m    # A unit with a suffix letter 'm' stands for minutes.

Hours

1
24h    # A unit with a suffix letter 'h' stands for hours.

Days

1
30d    # A unit with a suffix letter 'd' stands for days.

Weeks

1
4w    # A unit with a suffix letter 'w' stands for weeks.

Months

1
12M    # A unit with a suffix letter 'M' stands for months, and 1M stands for 30 days.

Years

1
1y    # A unit with a suffix letter 'y' stands for months, and 1y stands for 365 days.

References: Measurement Units