The good old magnetic tape will continue to be the chosen storage medium for many more years to come, IBM said yesterday. Scientists at the tech giant's Almaden Research Center and magnetic tape maker Fuji developed a new method and a dual-sided magnetic tape on which they stored 6.67 billion bits per square inch - a world record in data density.
The breakthrough method by IBM researchers has not only raised the standard tape's storage to 15 times its current capacity but also made the tiny magnetic bits allow for greater data reading accuracy.
The new technology and the dual-sided tape will offer storage space for a data volume that equals all the text matter from 8 million books. If stored in a library, this load of books would require about 57 miles of book shelves, the researchers provided the analogy. All this data can be stored in a tape roughly half the size of a VHS tape cartridge.
Fuji has used barium ferrite crystals to make sure the tape lasts several years. Barium ferrite has a stronger resistance to corrosion or other chemical changes, which ensures lasting storage. For many years now, Fuji had been using barium ferrite in its tapes on a trial basis. The latest dual-sided tape with a thin layer of the chemical's crystals is claimed to be the culmination of its efforts until now.
Computer and electronic users around the world have come to believe the magnetic tape is on its way out because more and more technologies use hard disk drives and compact discs. However, some businesses and organizations continue to use magnetic tape to store data such as financial records, disaster-recovery files of insurance companies, etc. - the kind of data that isn't needed very often. IBM estimates the market for tape storage systems would grow at the rate of 8 percent over the next five years.
The new tape and technology will take another five years before they arrive in the stores but would probably require users to upgrade to suitable systems. Besides its size, the new tape also offers great cost economy which is certain to be a key factor for success in the market.
For IBM too, the new technology wraps up its own efforts of many years to enhance the storage capacity of the magnetic tape. In 2002, the company's researchers had developed a technology with which they could cram data of 1 billion bits per sq inch density onto tape.
