A glass-based form of data storage that could preserve information for 10,000 years has been developed by researchers at Microsoft.
Long-term preservation of digital information has long challenged archivists and data centres. Magnetic tapes and hard drives typically degrade within decades, meaning the data has to be copied over to new mediums every few years to keep it readable.
Microsoft’s research arm has been trying to encode data on glass plates since 2019 as part of Project Silica, which aims to develop a more viable alternative to long-term data storage. As a storage technology, Silica offers volumetric data densities higher than current magnetic tapes, with over 7TB capable of being stored in a square glass platter the size of a DVD.
While magnetic tapes are also prone to environmental degradation – with optimal storage requiring cool temperatures, low humidity and no nearby strong magnetic fields – glass is a permanent data storage material that is much more resistant to extremes...