Increasing numbers of companies are turning the spotlight towards technologies that can help improve operational efficiency. According to a study by McKinsey management consulting firm, corporate that turn their digital strategy into a competitive advantage, enjoy 20 per cent increase in valuation over others.
In an information-centric world such as ours; it is essential that data is made available instantly. Therefore, scientists are now looking towards newer materials for data storage.
Innovations in terms of limitless data storage are expanding way beyond our imagination. Let’s take a look at the six futuristic data storage technologies.
5D data storage
Scientists from the University of Southampton have used an ultrafast laser to write on nanostructured glass and record five dimensional digital data that will last forever. (Photo: University of Southampton)
Scientists at the University of Southampton have taken a major step towards the development of digital data. Through the use of nanostructure glass, they developed the recording and retrieval processes of 5 dimensional (5D) digital data by femtosecond laser writing.
Their invention could be used to store data for up to 13.8 billion years. This technology was first experimentally demonstrated in 2013 when a 300kb digital copy of a text file was recorded in 5D.
Microsoft’s underwater data center
Ocean currents can produce enough energy to power the sub-sea data centers. (cnn.com)
Earlier this year, Microsoft unveiled Project Natick – an ongoing research project into sub sea data centers that could be both, cost effective and environmentally friendly. They found that placing data centers underwater not only helps keep their contents cool but also has logistical advantages.
“The vast majority of the Earth’s surface is covered with water and all international fiber routes run along the sea bed. By deploying a data center on the sea bed, you get around the issues with building a facility on land and at scale, such as having to build away from major metro areas where there is little fiber connectivity to keep land costs low,” David Barker, technical director at Surrey-based data center told Computer Weekly.
Data Skyscraper
The tower is conceived as a giant 3D motherboard with a cylindrical shape. (image: evolvo.com)
Iceland has been recognized as an ideal location for data centres. Moreover, since Iceland lies between the US and Europe, companies could use a data centre located in Iceland to run web services in both continents from a single place.
Apart from that, Iceland’s renewable energy could also power an energy-hungry data centre cleanly and possibly at a lower cost and let’s not neglect the fact that Iceland’s cold temperatures could naturally cool the servers thereby “avoiding the costs of a traditional cooling system.”
Hitachi’s waterproof glass ‘disk’
Hitachi plans to increase the amount of data that can be stored while maintaining the optical characteristics of the glass. (image: www.inhabitat.com)
Hitachi recently developed a technology which prints series of dots upon a silver of quartz glass which can then be easily read with a common microscope. This way, data can be easily accessed, as well. What’s more? Data is safe from fire, chemical and water, too.
The chip measures 2 millimetres thick and 2 centimeters square. 4 layers of dots are put together, resulting in a data density of 40 megabytes to the square inch. The glass is stable under heat up to 1832 degrees Fahrenheit.
Moreover, Hitachi even plans on increasing the amount of data that can be stored while maintaining the optical characteristics of the glass.
Memory device that rethinks data storage
The new device rethinks the way memory is currently used by introducing a self-propelled floating cantilever which reacts to electrical currents within the device to convert this electrical information into binary code. (image: http://inhabitat.com)
Scientists of the Konkuk University, Seoul National University and the University of Edinburgh’s School of Chemistry have developed an energy-efficient device that rethinks the way memory is currently used.
The self-propelled floating cantilever works quickly than current electronically powered conversion devices with lesser energy. “This is a novel approach to designing memory storage devices. Using a mechanical method combined with the benefits of nanotechnology enables a system with superior speed and energy efficiency compared with existing devices,” said Eleanor Campbell of the University of Edinburgh’s School of Chemistry, a professor that worked on the study.
