HDD alternative can store up to 10 PB for 5000 years

Cerebyte has created a prototype archival storage system using glass, ceramics and laser. In terms of durability, the information storage device can compete with ancient clay cuneiform tablets created by the Sumerians about 3.5 thousand years ago. It will be possible to read information from Cerebyte media even after 5 thousand years, and up to 10 PB of data can be stored on one drive.

If the startup is successful, in 2030 such storage systems will gain mass popularity, and HDDs and SSDs may become a relic of the past. Details of the invention are under the cut.

“Cold” data that can be stored for thousands of years

Modern storage media used for cold storage have disadvantages. Magnetic and optical systems that have the required speed, density and cost are not capable of storing information for a long time. Over time, they all degrade, some faster, some slower. Other technologies are either not fast enough or too expensive.

Cerebyte’s archival storage media prototype is designed to solve all of the above problems with a material that is high-capacity, fast, low-cost, and capable of lasting for thousands of years. The device has a glass substrate – a small square or flexible strip of Gorilla Glass or Corning, on which layers of ceramic are applied with a thickness of 50 to 100 atoms.

Data is recorded onto the ceramic coating using femtosecond laser pulses. One pulse records 2,000,000 bits of information. Plates for writing are planned to be stored in robotic storage in standard 19-inch modules, and for reading, high-resolution microscopes are required. The stored information will be an array of microdots that can be visually compared to a QR code. To increase capacity, the device can be double-sided and can only be read or written, but not modified.

Replacement of traditional storage media

Cold data storage is essential for preserving occasionally needed information. This may include compliance records, historical archives, and media files. The most reliable modern “cold” storage records this data on magnetic tape and stores the media at constant humidity, temperature and pressure.

But no matter how carefully you store it, magnetic media degrade, and quite quickly.

The same applies to laser discs – the plastic deteriorates relatively quickly, and there are other factors that lead to the unreadability of the media. Modern data storage systems of the highest level are capable of storing information for several decades, no more. And the service life of many data that is valuable to our civilization should be an order of magnitude higher.
Inspiration from history

When creating their storage medium, Cerabyte engineers took inspiration from the Sumerian clay tablets, which preserve information for thousands of years. The Epic of Gilgamesh, one of the most ancient works, was written in cuneiform on clay tablets as much as 3,800 years ago. And the recipe for Mesopotamian beer (an invaluable artifact) is even older, it was written down 5 thousand years ago. But the startup Cerabyte plans to break all records and create conditions for storing data for tens of thousands of years into the future, as is the case with the “Paleolithic Venus” sculptures, which are 25-35 thousand years old. Some of them retain the microstructure and fingerprints of the people who created the sculptures.

The company’s specialists also studied the properties of space materials. Thus, a 4.5 billion-year-old meteorite gave them an idea to create a durable material that is resistant to external factors. When the meteorite entered the earth’s atmosphere, metal nitride vapor (a natural ceramic) enveloped the meteorite, making it immune to almost any adverse conditions and temperatures of up to 1200 degrees Celsius. This inspired Cerabyte to create devices that can store valuable data virtually forever.

Speed, capacity and reliability

As for the structure, the drive is covered with several layers of special ceramics, each approximately 300 microns thick. The transfer speed is also impressive, amounting to several Gbit/s.

Considering that the inorganic ceramic material is deposited on a glass substrate, it will be resistant to most adverse conditions: temperatures from -273°C to 300°C, acids and other aggressive environments, and electromagnetic pulses. The company also predicts that production costs will be reduced by up to 75% compared to traditional cold storage systems. In addition, the new project will reduce the volume of electronic waste – the same HDDs and SSDs that are massively thrown into landfills every year. Not all of them are recycled.

Long-term plans for Cerabyte

Cerabyte plans to gradually improve the technology. Thus, in 2024, the first storage medium equipped with cartridges with several glasses with ceramic coating is expected to be released. In a few years, the company hopes to be able to produce and produce higher-capacity flexible glass tape media.

The first devices are expected to have capacities ranging from 10 to 100 petabytes, with bit sizes ranging from 100 to 3 nm. In the next generation of media, storage densities will reach 1 TB or more per square millimeter.

Cerabyte claims that if the drives are successfully tested in the field, its technology will create a “storage revolution” that could completely change the current market. Of course, for now these are just words; in order to understand what the new drive is really good for, we need tests from independent experts.

And somehow not much is known about the drive for reading such a drive – but it is the most important element in such a system. At the same time, as far as one can understand, recording information and reading it are performed by different devices.

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