Evolution of Data Storage Devices
Data storage has always been something that’s tremendously important to civilization. Our culture is founded on the idea that knowledge and information is one of the most crucial resources anyone can have. The mantra “information is power” succinctly describes this belief; thus, it is only expected that the evolution of data storage is something that is tremendously important to kingdoms, civilizations and nations from antiquity to the present.
This evolution naturally began with the birth of libraries as the primary way to collate information from sources near and far. Kings in those times understood that they can get advantage by gaining a monopoly on information. This is particularly true of military strategies as the nations with the mightiest armies were often destined to rule the world. Still, there was also a great deal of interest in other data like population and demographics, even information about literary and the arts. The ancient library of Alexandria in Egypt was considered one of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World because of this belief.
Fast-forward to the late 1940s when information slowly took the form of electronic data. The very first form of electronic data storage was the Ferrite bead or core which was used in the very first form of computer processors. At this time, memory cores were only good for storing about 4KB of data and were a few millimeters across, about the smallest size of dollop you can make from an eczema cream.
The evolution of data storage got a boost in the 1950s with the adoption of the half-inch tape coated with oxide. IBM pioneered the use of this technology and resulted in the ability to store bigger amounts of data, as much as 220MB in some cases. Everyone from the top nurse practitioner schools to engineering institutions benefited from this revolution. This also helped pave the way for more sophisticated technologies in the future beginning with the LTO tape technology from IBM, HP and Seagate.
The next jump occurred in the 1970s when Philips introduced the optical storage device. The WORM media, or “write once read many”, came from this enabling a bigger storage capacity of up to 5GB. You can test it and also ensure a high degree of reliability and accuracy. Basically, the development of the laser enabled this technology to be possible. Magneto optical discs represented the epitome of the optical media storage platform and even extending into the present with the Blu-ray technology as an offshoot of the same Phase Change methodology used to code magneto discs.
The recent incarnation of the storage device has come a long way from where it was in the late 1940s. Today, hard disks are now able to store as much as 4TB worth of electronic data. LTO technology is also capable of going up to 2.5TB while optical drives are just as competent. Best of all, solid state disks (SSD) are available promising very high performance and reliability albeit at a more expensive rate than other storage devices. In the end, you don’t need a tarot reading card to know that the storage devices of today are so much more capable than the storage devices of yesterday, not to mention that much more compact, light, and dependable.
Better yet, the most remarkable development in the evolution of storage devices is the continuing drop in prices per unit of data stored. Given the affordability of today’s drives, you no longer need swtor credits to buy the device you need. For under $10, you can actually now buy thumb drives capable of storing 16GB worth of data.
The future of storage devices looks bright, and it has to be if it wants to sustain the pace of technology revolution ushered in by computers and mobile devices. Where it will be 10 years from now is anybody’s guess; but you can bet it would be more mindboggling than what you can imagination.