Microsoft team creates 'revolutionary' data storage system that lasts millennia
6 days ago
- #data-storage
- #Microsoft
- #technology
- Microsoft researchers developed a long-term data storage system using glass that can last for millennia.
- The system uses a high-energy laser to imprint data into borosilicate glass, encoding information in deformations.
- A 12cm wide, 2mm thick glass square can store 4.8 terabytes, equivalent to 2 million printed books.
- Data is read using a microscope that detects light shifts through the glass deformations.
- The glass storage method is immutable, requiring no maintenance or temperature control once written.
- The technology improves upon previous methods by using cheaper borosilicate glass and faster, more reliable data encoding.
- Microsoft's Project Silica demonstrates a practical, deployable archival system with potential to revolutionize data storage.