Plexiglass-like DVD to Hold 1TB of Data

jcatcw writes "Lucas Mearian at ComputerWorld has a story about a company that plans to demonstrate a new DVD-format at the January CES conference. The .6mm thick disc stores 500GB of data by writing 5GB of data on each of 100 layers within a polymer material similar to Plexiglass. The Israel-based company, Mempile Inc., said its TeraDisc DVDs will offer 1TB of storage for consumers in the next few years, but it's also targeting corporate data archive needs with the new technology that write bits at the molecular level on the florescent-colored polymer. The company plans to sell its first product, a 700GB disc for $30."

Comments

I only have one wish...

[Jugalator]

No format war. Please!

$30 ?

[fishybell]

The company plans to sell its first product, a 700GB disc for $30

Unfortunately their second product, the disc burning drive, won't be available for several years.

Data Integrity Over Time?

[gbulmash]

They're not planning to hit 1TB until 2011. With all the companies in the storage race, I don't see this horizon representing any special accomplishment. It's a neat way of doing things, but so are some of the other contenders in the race.

What I wonder about is the archival quality of their material. How long before it oxidizes or otherwise brittles itself into uselessness? I remember when everyone was saying that CDs would last forever, unlike cassette tapes, and then we found out that CDs were not eternal. Their plastic might take forever to biodegrade, but their data integrity would degrade within 10-15 years. So, even if this turns out to be the winner in the race to a Terabyte disc, how long will it maintain data integrity for archival purposes?

- Greg

Re:Data Integrity Over Time?

[bcattwoo]

That 10-15 years is only on burned media. Great. How is one supposed to use this as a backup without burning it? Just write your data out on them with a Sharpie. Or even better, scratch it into the plastic with something sharp.

Re:Every one of these formats are worth jack

[DragonWriter]

I'm with you on the burner, but last I checked I spent ~$30 for 15 duel-layer DVDs (8 gigs each, 120gigs total) - so, around 10x the cost/size ratio of this new hologram-DVD. Eventually, the burner will pay for itself.

Assuming DVDs are $30 for 120 GB with a $100 reader/writer, and the new disks are $30 per 700 GB with a $3,000 reader/writer, you crossover with a mass-archive need of ~14 TB.

Which isn't all that astronomical (though enough that its probably not worth it for most personal users yet), and I would presume that as a new technology, both the media and reader/writer costs are going to come down more quickly than with the more established DVDs.

riiight.

[apodyopsis]

Its not a format war, its a new format. But it *will* be a format war if any of the large firms thinks there is any money in it.

Remember "DataPlay"? A small format optical disk (with an elaborate and complicated DRM system btw) in the early 2000s - they had a new and innovative format. They even got the record companies on their side until the big players (in this case Philips) looked at them, saw they had a business model and crushed them to develop small-form factor optical (SFFO). Of course, SFFO vanished as soon as cheap flash memory was available (low power, no moving part) but the point remains. A single isolated firm will be destroyed by a large multinational as soon as they prove they have a business case. And I bet my metaphorical hat that any array of patents will not affect that outcome in any way.

More information on Dataplay/SFFO available on net, here one's link:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn2930-tiny-optical-disc-could-store-five-movies.html

Besides, I've seen a number of multi terrabyte, multi layered optical systems paraded over the last few years - I label this vapor ware until I see it on the shelves. And even then I would not trust my data to it until its been proven in the corporate world.