Microsoft has developed a new coaster-sized glass that can store up to 1.75 million songs that you can play nonstop for 13 years. Microsoft has called it Project Silica and claims that this storage device can maintain data integrity for 10,000 years.
What Happened: Microsoft Corp.’s MSFT Project Silica has innovated a way to store extensive amounts of data on tiny glass plates made of silica. The technology is not only resilient to electromagnetic pulses and extreme temperatures but also eco-friendly, the company said in a blog post.
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The Global Music Vault, an Elire initiative, seeks to use this technology to build an extensive repository for music heritage, ranging from classical operas and modern hits to indigenous tunes.
Project Silica’s glass storage technology confronts the challenge of finding sustainable solutions for data storage. Conventional magnetic storage has a limited lifespan, necessitating frequent re-copying, and also leads to substantial energy consumption and operational costs.
"Magnetic technology has a finite lifetime," notes Ant Rowstron, Distinguished Engineer of Project Silica.
"You must keep copying it over to new generations of media. A hard disk drive might last five years. A tape might last ten years. But once that lifetime is up, you've got to copy it over," he added, explaining how magnetic storage devices like hard drives, pen drives, and others don’t have a long shelf life.
In contrast, Project Silica’s glass storage can retain data for millennia.
"This technology allows us to write data knowing it will remain unchanged and secure, which is a significant step forward in sustainable data storage," explained Richard Black, Research Director of Project Silica.
One notable aspect of this technology is its space efficiency. “The technology we've developed here at Project Silica can store an enormous amount of data in a very compact form. It's a new paradigm of efficiency and sustainability,” Black elucidates.
Why It Matters: Although it is still in its early stages of development, glass storage technology offers viable, sustainable, and cost-effective data storage.
As this technology progresses, it has the potential to become a staple in data centers worldwide, bestowing future generations with a wealth of priceless information.
Image Credits – Shutterstock
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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