New DNA Storage technology promises to write 20GB of data … in a day
After the Microsoft announcement, another DNA storage breakthrough
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A team from the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) has come up with a microchip that can vastly improve the speed at which data can be written in DNA form. And like theMicrosoft announcement that we coveredearlier today, they have a proof-of-concept working prototype.
Areport from the BBCquotes Nicholas Guise, a senior research scientist at GTRI saying that they expect a 100x improvement over existing technology for DNA storage. Currently the record for writing data to DNA stands at 200MB per day, meaning that the GTRI’s new chip could push it up to 20GB per day, which is roughly equivalent to 8GB per hour.
In comparison,LTO-9, the most recent tape technology, can reach up to 400MBps or 1440GB per hour, 180x more but DNA storage is still in its infancy, with no mainstream, mass-produced, commercial products available and improvements in reading, writing and price are likely to to be in logarithmic in nature rather than linear as it is the case for tape.
Not surprisingly, a number of companies have expressed interest in using DNA. GTRI is already partnering with two companies to bring the technology to market.Microsofthas explored DNA storage since 2014 whileCATALOGis looking to use DNA both for storage and compute withShannon.
Not there yet
DNA storage is a promising data storage technology for a number of reasons. Other than its fantastically high data density, about67TB per cubic millimeter (or 1.1EB per cubic inch)using current technologies, it is also incredibly durable and can last far longer than most media, with a half life of over 500 years.
In addition, reading DNA data doesn’t depend on one single method or process. As a comparison, try to read a floppy disk drive from the 1990s. Unless you have an old computer around, it’s pretty much mission impossible.
However, it will be at least a decade before it becomes a serious competitor to tape and that’s not accounting forholographic storagewhich might join the duo. So don’t expect to get yourcold storage,cloud backuporcloud storagefrom DNA just yet. As for replacinghard drivesorSSD, it’s even further out there.
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Désiré has been musing and writing about technology during a career spanning four decades. He dabbled inwebsite buildersandweb hostingwhen DHTML and frames were in vogue and started narrating about the impact of technology on society just before the start of the Y2K hysteria at the turn of the last millennium.
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