35 terabyte tape sets new World Record for IBM & FujiFilm

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Although tape storage is viewed as a legacy storage option by most people it is still a very reliable and cheap way to store large amounts of information. And it now looks set to be around for a lot longer. IBM and FujiFilm have managed to increase the areal density of tape storage 39x, in the process setting a new world record for areal data density on linear magnetic tape.
The new prototype tape is capable of storing 29.5 billion bits per square inch. The final cartridge unit contains 800 meters of that tape making it capable of storing 35 terabytes of data.
The new tape was made possible through a research collaboration between IBM and FujiFilm Japan with the tape being developed in IBM’s Zurich research facility. The research was led by IBM Fellow Evangelos Eleftheriou, who said:
This tape storage density demonstration represents a step towards developing technologies to achieve tape areal recording densities of 100 billion bits per square inch and beyond. Such technologies will be necessary to keep up with the rapid increase in digital information.
The massive increase in storage was achieved by the combination of perpendicular storage technology with barium ferrite particles. Eleftheriou explains:
The magnetic field is perpendicularly oriented, in this particular demo. It is essential. But what also is essential is that we use particulate media designed by FujiFilm. Clearly, the orientation of the magnetic field, the size of the particles—all these parameters determine how much utilization you can get out of this medium.
This helps increase the linear density and track density, which together determines the areal density, and the areal density gives you the capacity
The other good news is the new techniques being used here can still be scaled meaning 35 tearbytes on a single tape is just the beginning.
 
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