IBM And Fujifilm Team Up To Create Magnetic Tape With World-Record 580TB Storage

If you don’t already know this, we are here to tell you, data centers have been using magnetic tape as a storage medium since 1952. It has a lot of advantages including longevity, durability, energy efficiency, low cost, density, as well as scalability, making it a superior material over many years.

Even better, Fujifilm and IBM are working together to even further improve its potentials.

According to a press release from IBM, the company produces 2.5 quintillion bytes of data per day, which is largely attributed to the increasing use of the Internet of Things, the rise of 4K/8K videos, as well as big-data analysis with AI. At the current rate, IBM expects the load will reach 175 zettabytes by 2025 at a 61% annual growth rate. For your information, 1 ZB is a trillion gigabytes. The press release also writes:

“The one technology can handle that the massive growth of digital data, keep it protected from cyber crime attacks, and is archiving data for some of the largest hyperscale data centers in the world is a technology more than 60 years old — magnetic tape.”

Now, IBM has teamed up with Fujifilm and created a new tape with a capacity of 580 terabytes, which is about 50 times larger than the capacity of existing data cartridges. It also has a world-record recording density of 317 gigabytes per square inch. The companies created the tape using Strontium Ferrite. Also known as SrFe, the magnetic particle can be transformed into smaller ones that have superior properties, providing higher recording density on the same amount of tape.

“In terms of storage potential, a single tape cartridge with this new areal density has the potential to store about 580TB of data. Just to put that in perspective, 580 TB is equivalent to 786,977 CDs stacked 3100 ft (944 mt) high, which is taller than Burj Kalifa, the world’s tallest building. That’s a colossal amount of data! All fitting on a tape cartridge on the palm of your hand.”

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