The tale of the tape
1 min read
Data storage, at least at the consumer end of the scale, is dominated by flash memory. Whether used as standalone parts in USB drives or in combinations in solid state drives, it's the dominant technology.
But, as they say, other technologies are available. In the corporate world, tape still plays a valuable role in long term data storage and companies are always keen to cram more data into the available space. In fact, in a 2012 survey, 82% of companies in North America were found to use tape as a storage medium.
Just like with its solid state cousin, the storage density of tape continues to increase. Now, Sony - working with IBM - has developed a system in which 148Gbit of data can be held on one square inch of tape. That's said to be 74 times more than the current average. If the technology is commercialised, a standard tape cartridge would be able to hold more than 185Tbyte of data.
In 2010, IBM's Zurich lab unveiled tape technology which could store 29.5Gbit/in2, enabling 35Tbyte data cartridges. At the time, it said this was sufficient to store the text of 35m books, which would otherwise require 400km of shelving.
It's a far cry from IBM's first tape drives, launched in 1952. One of the original systems could store 100 characters per linear inch of tape and read tapes at up to 75in/s.
