For a true peek into the future of data storage, one need look no further than holograms. Holographic storage has been a topic of interest for many years, and recently the technology has been able to prove itself as a viable storage medium. InPhase Technologies has claimed to have the highest level of data density in the entire world with the storage of 515GB per square inch using holographic storage.
That's quite a feat. The amount of data a company needs to store only grows over time, with more media being converted to digital formats and data being more accessible and reproduceable. Don't expect a 5TB drive to be at your doorstep tomorrow, though - InPhase is planning to release a 300GB capacity disk sometime later this year, with a meager 20MBp/s transfer rate. Plans for volumes as high as 1.6TB per disk are planned, but to truly see the advantage it will not only have to be large and fast, but also cheap.