10kB

10kB refers to ten kilobytes, a unit of digital information. One kilobyte equals 1,024 bytes, so 10kB is 10,240 bytes. The abbreviation is commonly used in computing contexts to describe the size of files, memory allocations, or data transfers. While the term is sometimes seen in file extensions or disk usage statistics, it can also appear in documentation for embedded systems where memory is limited.

In computing, file sizes measured in kilobytes are often displayed in file properties dialogs, command‑line utilities such as `ls -l` on Unix, or disk usage tools like `du`. Many operating system interfaces use the binary interpretation (1 kB = 1,024 bytes), but some hardware or networking specifications adopt the decimal definition (1 kB = 1,000 bytes). When 10kB is referenced in software specifications, it generally implies a strict binary definition, but the context should be checked for clarity.

The significance of 10kB varies with the technology. In the early days of personal computing, a 10kB image or configuration file would be considered very small, whereas in modern high‑resolution graphics a simple bitmap might easily exceed 10kB. Embedded controllers often use 10kB budget allocations for firmware images, splash screens, or logging buffers.

Commonly, 10kB is seen in network packet sizes, such as the maximum payload for certain streaming protocols, or in cache sizes for small microcontrollers. Because it lies just beyond a single page in most virtual memory systems (with 4kB pages), it can be used to illustrate concepts of paging and memory fragmentation in introductory operating system texts.