Will a new storage technique which is based on the technology behind the familiar hologram stickers on credit cards rule the world in the future? The demand for storage is rapidly growing (about 80% a year!) for example for internet usage but also for the video and film industries.
InPhase's prototype CD-sized hologram disc can hold up to 400 gigabytes of information and retrieve it at speeds of roughly 30 megabytes per second. At that speed, people could download a DVD movie in about 30 seconds. |
Meanwhile, IBM is working on a system that stores 250 gigabytes in a square inch of hologram space.
And a prototype hologram storage machine exhibited last month at CeBIT, the world's largest computer and technology trade show, can hold 1 terabyte, or 1,000 gigabytes, of information in a hologram crystal chip the size of a watch face, according to German creators Optostor AG.
The secret is storing data in three dimensions throughout the entire thickness of the storage medium, be it a disc, a card or a wafer thin chip. Current magnetic and optical storage devices, such as computer hard drives or CD-ROMs, store data on their surfaces only.
The hologram storage mediums have a lifetime of up to 100 years. That's not bad comparing to the current CD's/Harddrives.
However this new kind of storage has some problems. For example the storage material itself is hard to create. Also the price is unaffordable at this moment. It will begin shipping next year for about $93,000. However they will have to continue looking for bigger storage devices as the demand keeps growing. But for now..... I just keep my (teac) CDR recorder
Source: ITToolbox
