IBM Sets Tape Capacity Record
IBM Sets Tape Capacity Record
May 17th, 2006: Magnetic tape, the long term storage archiving media of choice, has been given a capacity boost by IBM with researchers demonstrating a world record in data density.
The researchers managed to cram a data density of 6.67 billion bits per square inch onto a test tape at IBM’s Almaden Research Centre in San Jose, California. According to IBM, this amounts to more than 15 times today’s industry standard.
In order to achieve the record, IBM says it had to develop new data recording technologies and work with Fuji Photo Film of Japan to create a dual-coat magnetic tape capable of storing the data.
The demonstration is a great boost for magnetic tape storage systems and shows that the medium should be able to maintain its cost advantage over other technologies for many years to come.
IBM says that the new technology could appear in products in around five years, with a cartridge the size of a standard LTO tape boasting a capacity of 8 Terabytes of uncompressed data – 20 times the capacity of today's LTO-Generation 3 cartridge.
“With analysts projecting tape automation revenue to grow 8 percent annually through 2011, our customers are storing increasing amounts of data to manage their enterprises and to address the compliance requirements of laws such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996,” says Cindy Grossman, vice president, IBM Tape Storage Systems. “Greater data density and cartridge capacity enables them to store more data in less space, helping to keep magnetic tape as the most cost-effective form of data storage.”
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