COMPRESSED

Team Lumina

07/03/2019

In the current era, imagining a world without data is impossible. As technology has evolved, the past couple of decades have seen an advancement in the type, transfer, and most importantly, storage of data. Before going onto these new revolutionary methods of data storage, let us first take a brief look at the history of data storage and how it has evolved over the years.

While mankind has been storing information in many different forms since the age of recorded history (e.g. carving messages into stones, writing on pages and papyrus etc.), the methods we are focusing on today are more in line with storage made in the form of machine language. The first endeavour made in this field was in 1725 in the form of punch cards, which in its earliest form was used to control looms (devices used to weave cloth and tapestry). Over the next century, there were no major advancements until 1837 when Charles Babbage introduced his Analytical Engine, which used punch cards for instructions and responses.

Following this, we had a few drastic changes in data storage, not just in the method of carrying it out but also in how much data could be stored. The major transformation came in the 1960’s when magnetic storage, the primary method nowadays, started to become the norm. Throughout the 20th century, there were a number of other innovations and breakthroughs in this field, which included but were not limited to 'semiconductor memory', 'magnetic disk storage' (which included both the floppy disk and the hard disk), the 'optical' and 'magneto-optical discs' (under the blanket of which falls everything from CDs to DVDs to Blu-Ray), and 'Flash Drives'. Dubbed ‘Data Silos’ or ‘Data Lakes’, there are also places where large amount of data is stored for businesses and other companies whose data could not be stored in the previously discussed methods. And following this, we now come to perhaps the biggest achievement in this field thus far: cloud storage. Brought on by the internet, this is a method which allows storage of near-infinite data online that can be accessed anytime with the only major concern being that of security.

Having gone over the surprisingly long and innovative history of data storage, we now look at potential ideas floating in the air that could be the future of the industry, helping the methodology of data storage reach new heights. With constant research going on to make data storage better, it is not surprising that many are trying to make the storage device smaller and more durable. This includes such devices as 5-D Glass Data Disk, QuartzGlass Disk, and DNA Data Storage among many others. However, these proposed methods also include data storage on a larger scale – things that almost seem out of a sci-fi book or movie. A Data Skyscraper, Underwater Data Centres and many others spring to mind when talking about this.

However, for now, we look away from all these seemingly outlandish methods to look at one that could potentially be in the market in a few years, and one that could not only offer better data storage but transfer as well. The method we are talking about is "Holographic Memory". To start off, we first need to understand how this method of data storage will work.

Holographic Memory involves storing information at high density within a three-dimensional crystal or photopolymer in the form of a holographic image (hence, the name). This is done by providing light by a laser that is then divided into multiple parts, providing different optical patterns of light and dark pixels. It employs a technique known as collinear holography that makes use of lasers green-blue and red in colour to store and read data. The stored data is encoded into binary (‘1’s and ‘0’s). There are several other components, but the basics are all we need to understand the working. By aligning a reference beam at a particular angle, we can easily retrieve the information we need, as the data stored depends upon the light shone upon it. This method of data extraction can be done in as little as a fifth of a second.

This method of 3-D data storage has several potential advantages that we will now look at. The first is the size as this technique allows up to one terabyte of memory to be stored in a crystal the size of a sugar cube. It also allows us the opportunity to preserve and archive data. The maximum amount of data that can be stored andrate of data transfer are beyond anything currently available. And to cap it all off, unlike other mediums of data storage, holographic memory is resistant to damage and is among the most durable forms of technology that could hit the shelves within a few years.

Ultimately, having taken a basic look at how holographic memory works and all the potential advantages that would be at our disposal within a few years, it is clear that the world is moving forward at breakneck speed and things previously considered to be within the realm of science-fiction are now becoming a reality. In such an age of advancements, it is wise to be aware of what is going on in the world and to remain up to date with all these technologies. After all, in a technological world, only the initiated can survive.