Store massive amounts of data with Sony's 185 TB data tape

[Scorpus]

Want to own a storage device with a capacity so large it will put your traditional hard drive to shame? Try Sony's new magnetic tape drive, which features the world's highest areal recording density, allowing a single drive to feature a whopping 185 TB of storage capacity.

Sony achieved such a feat by "creating a nano-grained magnetic layer with fine magnetic particles and uniform crystalline orientation" through the use of sputter deposition, a technique purposed to form thin films consisting of multiple layers of crystals. By "optimizing sputter conditions" and creating a smooth soft magnetic underlayer, Sony's primary data layer has fine magnetic particles 7.7nm in size on average.

Standard coated magnetic tape drives (an array of which are seen above) use simpler technology, but have significantly lower capacities with areal densities around 2 Gb per square inch. Sony's new magnetic tape technology features an areal density of 148 Gb per inch, which is 74 times denser.

Magnetic tape drives will never be a feature of your home computer, as they're typically a slow form of storage, but they will be an asset for supercomputers and data archival centers who require large capacity storage without a huge physical footprint.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/56641-store-massive-amounts-of-data-with-sonys-185-tb-data-tape.html

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

"but they will be an asset for supercomputers and data archival centres who require large capacity storage without a huge physical footprint".
So does that mean they won't be using Winchester drives anymore?...

 

[GhostRyder]

Its funny, the data center I work at has so many tape machines working but they all look like they are from the old Star Trek T.V. show (If your wondering what I mean, Bit square colored buttons, big switches, and green screens or things like that). Its funny how much Data Centers rely on these things still but its so hard to get newer equipment at times for this type of stuff. The machines are not something easily gotten so they instead repair these old things and keep them running (Heck ive had to a few times remove a jammed tape many a time).

Thats cool Sony, that tape could store so much information it would make my head spin. Im actually scared of it because what would happen if that tape was misplaced 0_o.

 

[madboyv1]

I've actually toyed with the idea of getting an LTO-3 or LTO-4 tape drive, but compared to Sony's new tape it kind of makes them feel just a *little* bit underwhelming. =p

Still, easier to deal with than small discs or worrying about hard drives failing, and easier to store somewhere else. But all the BD discs I have... I feel compelled to use them since I have them instead of buying a different backup medium.

 

[Guest]

I can finally store all my MKV movies and TV shows on one device. If only just barely.
Thanks, Sony! Oh, and please don't install a rootkit on this one.

 

[misor]

Since my two Seagate hard disk drives (1tb + 3tb) failed recently, I'd love to test drive that technology.
attention sony corp, beta tester here.

 

[DelJo63]

Tape is similar to SSD media, in that too many passes (read or write) and the media gets worn (unreliable).

Addtionally, tape can s t r e t c h and thus generate errors.

Tape reliability is 1/length - - longer is less reliable.

I use to hang 2400' tape reels too and quiet surprised Sony would bother with the effort for such a niche market.

 

[Jad Chaar]

Since my two Seagate hard disk drives (1tb + 3tb) failed recently, I'd love to test drive that technology.
attention sony corp, beta tester here.

Hahaha

 

[misor]

Tape is similar to SSD media, in that too many passes (read or write) and the media gets worn (unreliable).

Addtionally, tape can s t r e t c h and thus generate errors.

Tape reliability is 1/length - - longer is less reliable.

I use to hang 2400' tape reels too and quiet surprised Sony would bother with the effort for such a niche market.

nelson of the simpsons says:

haha!

my aspiration to become a beta tester was just crushed.

 

[Guest]

NSA will like this, to store all your email.