This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
Ceramic storage, I love it. We've looped all the way back around to reimplementing cuneiform tablets, just on a microscopic level.
I look forward to storing the complaints about the quality of my copper deliveries on them.
Yours faithfully,
Ea-nāṣir.
You legit made me smile. Well written.
Initially, there will be no need for particle beams/electron microscopy
It sounds like this might never be viable in the consumer space. Pity. The world is more cloud-centered than I'd like as it is. I want 1PB in my pocket!
This also sounds like permanent write memory with real only after that. No re-write.
Yes, the CeraByte web site is suspiciously devoid of any mention of rewrite-ability (or lack thereof). They just mention reading and writing. https://www.cerabyte.com/how-it-works/
More questions than answers, looking through their web site.
After a few minutes of duckduckgoing it, it looks like they are a new company still in the funding phase. They are due to present at the Storage Developer Conference later this month, but I'm not sure they actually have a product yet. https://storagedeveloper.org/events/agenda/session/527
In the abstract they focus on cold storage, but also mention "the ability to fully recycle the media".
That's not nothing though. Use cases like YouTube or archival work absolutely had a use case for read only
For sure. Also, if the density is sufficiently high compared to alternatives, it could be objectively better anyway. For instance, a typical SSD is rated for less than 1000 full write cycles. So if I have a write-once media with more than 1000 times the space, I'll be able to write more to it even in the worst-case scenario.
Huh, pair that with some quality memory for indexing and it would be a pretty good home backup device
All you need is an electron beam microscope. Simple home setup. I don’t see this coming to home users in the near and semi- near future.
In the film industry, long term storage of digital films is a real issue. Disney still creates a technicolor (3strip) copy of their films as digital data isn’t as reliable as good old silver emulation.
Depending on necessary speed, Tape Drives fit that use case pretty well. This feels like it could be a slight improvement on that format, but it’ll entirely depend on density
It makes sense from a layman’s perspective on why it can’t be rewritten, but this is really just a single write storage mechanism. May be really good for archival data, but anything that needs active use is probably far from feasible
They said the same thong about ssds for mass storage. Granted this tech is dramatically different. But we went from coffee table sized laser disks in the 90s to psp disc's in the 2000s. That's like a 1:100 size reduction and at a 1000 x data storage rate. Who knows what the future stores.
Ah yes, let me just boot up my electron microscope in my computer to be able to utilize this tech
Well this is a data center oriented tech, anyway, and the current implementation doesn't need that.
When AI start making videos in earnest, every storage media on Earth is going to clench its little butthole in fear.
What’s up guys it’s your favorite ai here
Smash that like button!
The problem to solve there is stopping the videos, not making room for them.
I don't disagree in principle, but you're talking about teaching tech to stop "moving fast and breaking things"
Data reading can be done with equipment using high-resolution microscopic imaging techniques or electron beam microscopy.
They do not say how to write this tape and to read it you need an extraordinarily costly device at extraordinarily slow rate 🤨.
Write with laser or particle beam. Read with microscope or electron microscope.
Read will be taking a snapshot of the area with the electron beam so it will depend on the speed of said microscope. The idea isn’t for ultra fast write and read access. It’s long term storage with low volume. Currently they’re using tape for long term storage but the longevity is likely less than that of ceramic.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
According to the startup, these new formats are poised to address density, performance, and access paradigms, as well as the cost and sustainability demands of datacenters.
Here, for the first time, it will detail how it will introduce CeraMemory with inorganic nanolayers, using 50-100 atoms thick ceramics to store information.
Data reading can be done with equipment using high-resolution microscopic imaging techniques or electron beam microscopy.
Another seemingly excellent inherent property of ceramic storage is the touted media durability and longevity.
Additionally, it is boasted that CeraMemory is resistant to corrosive, acidic, radioactive environments and EMP disruption.
Its presentation at the 2023 Storage Developer Conference, which takes place between September 18 and 21, looks set to be one to watch.
The original article contains 475 words, the summary contains 120 words. Saved 75%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
I wonder how this compares to Microsoft's Project Silica. It seems like it is much more dense in terms of data storage, but it also sounds like the data is etched into the surface of the ceramic vs Silica's data being stored within the glass. Obviously still miles more durable than most modern data storage methods.
I can finally keep all of my Baldur's Gate 3 saves
Another case of vaporware?
I’ll wait until it’s on sale.
Oh jeez, that's me.
Without knowing anything my guess is they are making layers of some graphene sheets with vapor deposition coating and making a roll or a sandwhich of that. I would imagine it will be extremely expensive.
