Here’s what a 10,000 TB capacity ceramic cartridge looks like: A system that can store data for more than 5,000 years moves closer to commercialization as a working archival data rack readies for launch in 2024
In today’s digital age, companies and individuals generate and collect more data than ever before. However, the cost and relatively short lifespan of existing storage methods pose significant concerns. Enter Cerabytea startup that offers a cheap, highly resilient solution with a virtually unlimited lifespan: ceramic nanolayers.
Cerabyte likens its data storage method to the ancient Egyptians’ practice of chiseling hieroglyphs into rocks and while there is still some way to go before the technology is widely available, the company has already turned its initial proof of concept into a fully operational terabyte- terminal device. -to-end demo system, using only commercial off-the-shelf components.
Cerabyte’s demo system consists of one reading rack and several library racks. The storage medium takes the form of a thin, single-access square glass plate (also called a platter or carrier) with a dark nanoscale ceramic layer, stored in cartridges in a robotic library.
How it works
When it comes to writing data, the cartridge is moved from a library rack to the writing/reading rack. The cartridge is opened and the platter is removed and placed on a stage. Data is engraved on it in QR code-like patterns using a femtosecond laser pulse.
The laser pulse creates holes or leaves spaces in the ceramic layer, which represent binary ones and zeros. As the stage moves forward, a series of QR patterns are written and then read and verified by a microscope camera during the backward movement. Once a data carrier has been completely written, it is placed back in the cartridge and returned to the library.
The data retrieval process is similar, except you only use the microscope camera to read the contents.
Cerabyte says data stored in this way remains secure and accessible over a wide temperature range from -273°C (-460°F) to 300°C (570°F), even in corrosive or acidic atmospheres, and remains impervious to radiation and electromagnetic radiation. interference.
This initial system may not compete with today’s state-of-the-art storage systems, but Cerabyte believes it has the potential to become the future standard for long-term sustainable data storage. The cost-effective and easily scalable technology, which requires no energy to store data and eliminates the need for data migration, is a promising solution for the future.
