Thursday, June 30, 2005
Disk storage to increase 10x by 2009
Technology trends analyst IDC is predicting that by 2009 disk-based storage will have increased by as much as 5 to 10 times current capacities. In its Worldwide Hard Disk Drive 2005-2009 report, IDC states that this is possible due to the imminent introduction of perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) technology, which allows for greater storage density. PMR aligns the magnetic zones vertically instead of the traditional horizontal layout, allowing for more storage in a smaller area.
Manufacturers' timelines seem to match or possibly even surpass IDC's predictions. Currently the maximum size of a 2.5" Microdrive is 6 GB, but Hitachi believes it can increase that to 20 GB using PMR, and has already demonstrated a working model in the lab; a similar 3.5" drive can hold up to 1 TB of data. Within 5 years Hitachi believes it will have increased this figure to a point where Microdrives will sport 60 GB capacity, exactly 10 times the current maximum.
Manufacturers' timelines seem to match or possibly even surpass IDC's predictions. Currently the maximum size of a 2.5" Microdrive is 6 GB, but Hitachi believes it can increase that to 20 GB using PMR, and has already demonstrated a working model in the lab; a similar 3.5" drive can hold up to 1 TB of data. Within 5 years Hitachi believes it will have increased this figure to a point where Microdrives will sport 60 GB capacity, exactly 10 times the current maximum.
