Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Data Transfer Has A Speed Limit

Posted by simoniker on from the quite-a-high-one dept.

ChrisHanel writes "Yahoo News is reporting that despite the infinite climb data speeds seem to be making, scientists at Stanford say we'll eventually hit a barrier due to the inability to keep the data stable after a certain transfer speed. But no worries just yet; the watermark they've set is still 1,000 times faster than what we have now." Apparently: "The scientists confirmed this problem by firing up the particle accelerator at Stanford University and blasting electrons at a piece of the magnetic material used to store computer data."

17 of 355 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Limit only applies to Magnetic Storage by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Porn.

    /JE

  2. I am still confident... by odano · · Score: 4, Funny

    I am still confident that a 747 full of DVDs will beat anything we have in the next few years. Sadly the latency is a bit too high for quake.

    1. Re:I am still confident... by MadDog+Bob-2 · · Score: 3, Funny

      Call me anal ...

      Call be paranoid, but that's quite a few figures there without citations :)

      Regardless...

      The bandwidth will depend on flight time. Since such an aircraft is usually used for long haul international flights, we'll assume it is flying from London to New York.

      The 747-300 has a longe range cruising speed of 898 km/h, and the distance between London and New York is 5560.7 Km, so the flight duration is 6.1923 hours = 22,292 seconds.

      Wrong distance. Bandwidth, in this context, is the amount of data crossing any given plane per unit time. Start the clock when the nose of the 747 breaks the plane, and stop it when the tail passes. At 900 km/h, 70.5m (according to some KLM affiliate) is about 0.28s

      Consider that the freight version accomodates 110 metric tons of cargo, and you're looking 20.2 PB. In 0.28s, that's 71.6 PB/s, which is rather beyond impressive.

      I'll leave the volume of 4.3 million DVDs as an exercise for the reader...

    2. Re:I am still confident... by myc_lykaon · · Score: 3, Funny

      But will I get compensation when my PC is in London but my data ends up in Maui?

  3. I want my particle accelerator drive by Neo-Rio-101 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Well, if they can at least get some reliable results from pushing this particle accelerator thingy at close to the speed limit AND TEST IT....where's my particle accelerator drive?

    --
    READY.
    PRINT ""+-0
  4. Fun! by insert+3+letters · · Score: 5, Funny

    "The scientists confirmed this problem by firing up the particle accelerator at Stanford University and blasting electrons at a piece of the magnetic material used to store computer data." I wish I had a particle accelerator just lying around, that'd be sweet.

  5. Future markets by Old+Wolf · · Score: 5, Funny

    However, Seagate's chief technology officer, Mark Kryder, said the project had few real implications for the data-storage industry.

    "Certainly we are not going to start packaging linear accelerators into hard disk drives,

    Fools, cutting themself out of the linear accelerator harddrive market already. I'm switching to WD..
  6. inelegant and elegant proofs by circletimessquare · · Score: 4, Funny

    the transit rate of the average human digestive system has a maximum speed too, but you don't need to feed someone a cayenne and wasabi-laden, amoebic dysentery-infested mexican dinner plate in order to prove it ;-P

    but, i suppose, you don't need to throw elemental sodium into a swimming pool to do basic chemistry either

    so rock on particle physicists!

    it must be fun to play with accelerators...

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
  7. "Data Transfer Has A Speed Limit" by r_glen · · Score: 4, Funny

    c

    1. Re:"Data Transfer Has A Speed Limit" by TheoMurpse · · Score: 3, Funny

      I think that may be the shortest post to get mod points...

  8. 640 Gbps by Seehund · · Score: 4, Funny

    should be enough for everyone.

    --
    Help savingAmigaOS and a free PowerPC market
  9. Not if we breed more pigeons! by suso · · Score: 4, Funny

    Infinite pigeons with infinite discs yields infinite data speed.

  10. Re:Limit only applies to Magnetic Storage by prairieson · · Score: 4, Funny

    No, the reason they used humans was that the cows didn't look nearly as cool in the fight scenes.

    --
    Quomodo cogis comas tuas sic videri?
  11. Missed that one by WTFmonkey · · Score: 3, Funny
    The infamous Moootrix.

    Hey, where's my rimshot!??!

    1. Re:Missed that one by AKAImBatman · · Score: 3, Funny

      I believe you actually mean The Meatrix. No one can be told what the Meatrix is. They must experience it for themselves. Be warned! The Meatrix may have you in its grasp at this very moment! Trust no one!

      --
      Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
  12. That's not the scary part by nomadicGeek · · Score: 4, Funny

    The scary thing is that someone will figure out how to fit that particle accelerator into a hard disk enclosure before we figure out how to make the battery on my laptop last a full workday without a recharge.

  13. Wait... by sv25 · · Score: 3, Funny

    ... so the dream of surfing for porn at an infinite speed is over *sob*