A pioneering research partnership between Microsoft and the University of Southampton has enabled the encoding of a classic feature film on 2mm-thick quartz glass in a powerful proof of concept for next generation cloud data storage.
In collaboration with a global media and entertainment partner, researchers at , in a demonstration of the resilient, low-cost and long-term storage system.
The technique, which was invented within the Zepler Institute for Photonics and Nanoelectronics鈥� Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC), uses a femtosecond laser to create nanoscale 鈥榲oxels鈥� in dozens of layers within the material.
Over 75GB of data was written onto the 7.5cm by 7.5cm proof of concept test which has been proven to withstand extreme heat, flooding and scratching, promising durable future data storage that could remain preserved for tens of thousands of years beyond contemporary methods.
The ground-breaking concept has been demonstrated several times by Southampton researchers in recent years, with a digitised 鈥楽olar Library鈥� being . Scientists from the ORC and Microsoft Research Cambridge have joined forces to drive the technology forward over the past two and a half years, pursuing ambitious plans to transform the future of large-scale data storage.
, the innovation鈥檚 inventor and Southampton Principal Investigator, said: 鈥淭he vast potential of using nanostructured glass for digital data storage has attracted global attention since it was first demonstrated in 2013 with a 300kB recording of a text file. It is very exciting to have reached this latest milestone which reveals how the technology鈥檚 capability and capacity has greatly expanded through this pioneering collaboration.
鈥淓xpertise from the Optoelectronics Research Centre has helped develop a hundredfold increase in the system鈥檚 writing speed this past year and we look forward to advancing the technology further this coming year to allow it to work more efficiently while using less energy.鈥�
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