Virtual Machine Resources Use Decimal MB/GB Instead of Binary MiB/GiB, Causing Memory Mismatch #637

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MrUnknownDE · 2026-04-05T16:59:04+02:00

MrUnknownDE commented

2026-04-05 16:59:04 +02:00

Originally created by @JHarrison712 on 1/8/2026

NetBox version

v4.5.0

Feature type

Change to existing functionality

Proposed functionality

Memory (and disk) values under Virtualization → Virtual Machine → Resources are currently stored and displayed using decimal units (MB/GB), but the UI labels them simply as “GB”. In practice, most users interpret this as binary units (GiB), which is what operating systems and hypervisors commonly use.

The proposal is to adjust how units are handled and/or displayed to avoid this ambiguity. Possible approaches include:

Switching memory and disk resources to use binary units (MiB/GiB) consistently throughout the UI and data model, or
Clearly labeling values as decimal (MB/GB) wherever they are shown, or
Providing a configurable option to display resources using either decimal or binary units
At a minimum, the UI should make it explicit which unit system is being used so users can accurately allocate resources.

This change would primarily affect display and input handling in the VM resources UI, without changing the underlying numeric values unless binary units are adopted.

Use case

When configuring virtual machines, users often allocate memory in round binary values (e.g. 4 GiB, 8 GiB). Currently, setting memory to 4000 MB results in the VM summary showing 4.00 GB, which looks correct at a glance but actually equates to ~3.9 GiB inside the guest OS.

This causes confusion, makes it appear that memory is missing, and makes capacity planning less precise. Since most operating systems, hypervisors, and monitoring tools report memory in binary units, the current behavior doesn’t align with user expectations.

Clarifying or standardizing units would reduce confusion, prevent accidental under-allocation, and make NetBox’s virtualization resource modeling easier to reason about for operators managing large numbers of VMs.

Database changes

No response

External dependencies

No response

*Originally created by @JHarrison712 on 1/8/2026* ### NetBox version v4.5.0 ### Feature type Change to existing functionality ### Proposed functionality Memory (and disk) values under Virtualization → Virtual Machine → Resources are currently stored and displayed using decimal units (MB/GB), but the UI labels them simply as “GB”. In practice, most users interpret this as binary units (GiB), which is what operating systems and hypervisors commonly use. The proposal is to adjust how units are handled and/or displayed to avoid this ambiguity. Possible approaches include: - Switching memory and disk resources to use binary units (MiB/GiB) consistently throughout the UI and data model, or - Clearly labeling values as decimal (MB/GB) wherever they are shown, or - Providing a configurable option to display resources using either decimal or binary units At a minimum, the UI should make it explicit which unit system is being used so users can accurately allocate resources. This change would primarily affect display and input handling in the VM resources UI, without changing the underlying numeric values unless binary units are adopted. ### Use case When configuring virtual machines, users often allocate memory in round binary values (e.g. 4 GiB, 8 GiB). Currently, setting memory to 4000 MB results in the VM summary showing 4.00 GB, which looks correct at a glance but actually equates to ~3.9 GiB inside the guest OS. This causes confusion, makes it appear that memory is missing, and makes capacity planning less precise. Since most operating systems, hypervisors, and monitoring tools report memory in binary units, the current behavior doesn’t align with user expectations. Clarifying or standardizing units would reduce confusion, prevent accidental under-allocation, and make NetBox’s virtualization resource modeling easier to reason about for operators managing large numbers of VMs. ![Image](https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/c5b6aa72-6cf7-44c4-ad95-ece570754800) ![Image](https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/5c2f106e-0f2e-4a54-a457-96c86a2f49c1) ![Image](https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/f9653e27-ead0-4d8c-8a67-39804f98a1ea) ![Image](https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/91598be1-9763-4ce4-809e-3d580fa9987f) ### Database changes _No response_ ### External dependencies _No response_

MrUnknownDE closed this issue

2026-04-05 16:59:04 +02:00

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Reference: github/netbox#637