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New Technique Promises Much Faster Hard Drive Write Speeds

Posted by Unknown on from the sharks-in-my-drives dept.

MrSeb writes "Hold onto your hats: Scientists at the University of York, England have completely rewritten the rules of magnetic storage (abstract; full paper paywalled). Instead of switching a magnetic region using a magnetic field (like a hard drive head), the researchers have managed to switch a ferrimagnetic nanoisland using a 60-femtosecond laser. Storing magnetic data using lasers is up to 1,000 times faster than writing to a conventional hard drive (we're talking about gigabytes or terabytes per second) — and the ferrimagnetic nanoislands that store the data are capable of storage densities that are some 15 times greater than existing hard drive platters. Unfortunately the York scientists only detailed writing data with lasers; there's no word on how to read it."

12 of 148 comments (clear)

  1. write only media FTW! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Who needs to read data back anyway?

    1. Re:write only media FTW! by NoNonAlphaCharsHere · · Score: 4, Funny

      But that means we have to use Perl!

    2. Re:write only media FTW! by Robert+Zenz · · Score: 4, Funny

      Absolutely true! I store all customer user-accounts in /dev/null to save diskspace (the compression of that device is awesome!)...so far nobody complained.

    3. Re:write only media FTW! by The+MAZZTer · · Score: 5, Funny

      Let me guess... you set up customer complaints to get filed in /dev/null too?

    4. Re:write only media FTW! by greenreaper · · Score: 4, Funny

      No, but you have to login to file a complaint.

  2. At last! by undulato · · Score: 5, Funny

    A future-proof storage medium.

  3. omg by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    frickin hard drives with laser beams!

    1. Re:omg by Ihmhi · · Score: 5, Funny

      1) Western Digital licenses this technology.

      2) WD releases a new model, the WD Shark. A "Now with LASERs!" starburst graphic adorns the front of the box.

      3) Profit!

      --
      Random Thoughts From A Diseased Mind (Not For Dummies)
  4. Cryogenic data storage by goombah99 · · Score: 3, Funny

    This is the data equivalent of freezing Walt Disney and assuming that someday we'll figure out how to thaw and revive him. Write now, read someday.

    --
    Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
    1. Re:Cryogenic data storage by jd2112 · · Score: 3, Funny

      His first words after being thawed out would be "is 'Stramboat Mickey' still under copyright?"

      --
      Any insufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology.
    2. Re:Cryogenic data storage by BigSes · · Score: 5, Funny

      Walt: "Are all the Jews gone?" Scientist: "No." Walt: "Put me back in."

  5. Re:Memory Hole by GodfatherofSoul · · Score: 3, Funny

    Goatse Drive technology?

    --
    I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!