native capacity (redirected from raw capacity)

native capacity

The raw capacity of a device. The storage capacity of backup tapes is often published as compressed storage in order to sound larger. It is typically expressed as twice the native capacity. The actual capacity may be less than or exceed the published figure, because different types of data compress at different rates. Text files generally compress to approximately 40% of their original size. Binary program files generally do not compress well at all, and images compress at a variety of rates depending on type.