5 Dimensional Quartz Crystal storage

[GreyGeek]

"Researchers have just discovered a way to preserve data forever in 5D. What exactly does that mean and how does it work?"

http://www.southampton.ac.uk/news/20...ge-update.page

The storage allows unprecedented properties including 360 TB/disc data capacity, thermal stability up to 1,000°C and virtually unlimited lifetime at room temperature (13.8 billion years at 190°C ) opening a new era of eternal data archiving. As a very stable and safe form of portable memory, the technology could be highly useful for organisations with big archives, such as national archives, museums and libraries, to preserve their information and records.

[vinnywright]

Cool ,,,,,,,now where do I get my 5D Cristal drive reader/writer

VINNY

[GreyGeek]

THAT was my first question!
And, how fast is it?

[whatthefunk]

And how much does it cost?

[Snowhog]

And how much does it cost?

If one has to ask, one can't afford it!

[SpecialEd]

Cool ,,,,,,,now where do I get my 5D Cristal drive reader/writer

VINNY

I just happen to have one right here, I'll make you a good deal on it...

[TWPonKubuntu]

I note that the article is a year old... I've not read anything else about this media.

It also appears to be read only, which is ok for true archives, but not so useful for day-to-day operation.

I can see a mixed media system where this archive hold libraries of documents and other media is used for shorter term operations.

The scary thought is finding archives of Facebook(r) or other social media which will live longer than my great-great-great... relatives.

I can see lots of money to be made selling the media itself, not to mention the writer devices themselves.

There might be a dis-incentive to make a media which does not die quickly enough...

[GreyGeek]

Good points.

Info / data on the Internet is not as resilient as we used to think. News sites are constantly changing "news" stories or deleting them altogether. Many web sites are not backed up on the Internet Archive (Wayback Machine) because it would cost too much and require a MASSIVE data farm that only giant corporations or governments can afford. This 5D stuff, if it is economical and write fast enough, could be a game changer, for good or bad. If it is cheap I can imagine oppressive government requiring computer makers to include a Quartz crystal in each computer, keyboard logging every stroke, and capturing screen images regularly, if not spying with the web cam and mic. Given recent events, I wouldn't put that above any country, including the USA.

[TWPonKubuntu]

GG:

Not just "oppressive" governments... It is a two sided blade.

How will our descendants know what is the truth and what is fabricated? We have enough trouble with that now.

[whatthefunk]

Good points.

Info / data on the Internet is not as resilient as we used to think. News sites are constantly changing "news" stories or deleting them altogether. Many web sites are not backed up on the Internet Archive (Wayback Machine) because it would cost too much and require a MASSIVE data farm that only giant corporations or governments can afford. This 5D stuff, if it is economical and write fast enough, could be a game changer, for good or bad. If it is cheap I can imagine oppressive government requiring computer makers to include a Quartz crystal in each computer, keyboard logging every stroke, and capturing screen images regularly, if not spying with the web cam and mic. Given recent events, I wouldn't put that above any country, including the USA.

You dont need 5D crystal hard drives to do any of this. If governments really wanted to spy on computer users as you suggest, it would be far easier and probably cheaper to require computer makers/software companies to simply have backdoors into pcs that regularly send relevant info to a central data center.

[TWPonKubuntu]

WTF:

Ummm... don't "they" do this already?-

My concern is that this kind of storage (dense, long term) makes it possible to keep "permanent" records of anything and everything.

It might be legal today, but next week it might not be "allowed" and then the record exists that the new regulation was broken...

Paranoid? Yes. Possible? Very likely.

None-the-less, I would still like to have such a system for my data.

[whatthefunk]

WTF:

Ummm... don't "they" do this already?-

My concern is that this kind of storage (dense, long term) makes it possible to keep "permanent" records of anything and everything.

It might be legal today, but next week it might not be "allowed" and then the record exists that the new regulation was broken...

Paranoid? Yes. Possible? Very likely.

None-the-less, I would still like to have such a system for my data.

You guys make it sound like with existing drives, data disappears within a few minutes. Using existing technologies it is still very possible to keep permanent records if you have an adequate redundancy strategy. Even without backup/redundancy, data can still be stored for several decades. I have CDs I burned 20 years ago that still work fine today. We moved recently and I found a couple old 512mb sd drives from 15 years ago and they still work. So as far as legality of stored data, this is very much an issue today with existing technologies.

[TWPonKubuntu]

wtf;

There are two points being discussed here:

1) What does "archive" storage mean
2) How might truly long term storage ability be a problem rather than an advantage.

I'll agree with you that current storage media can last for many years. CDs and DVDs, if properly stored in climate controlled areas and light tight packaging, will last a lifetime. Even magnetic storage (disks) will keep for that long if you don't access them frequently.

Re the "legality" of the data, I wasn't referring to the content of the data one might keep, but rather to the nefarious uses to which personal records (finance, correspondence, etc.) might be applied by others in the future.

For instance, right now it is legal to own a car (well, you still 'rent' it from state governments...). In the future this "ownership" might be used against us, for any number of politically correct purposes... Humans have a history of penalizing others for actions taken in the past, even though those actions were "legal" at the time... Even to the extent of applying those penalties to ones descendants.

So the technology to create very long term storage media is both a boon and a bane. I, frankly, don't trust future generations to "let bygones by bygones" and not attempt to use historical records to make life difficult for others then alive.

And then there is the "Wikipedia" veracity problem. Will future generations be able to determine if the records are actual fact? For those who are not aware, digital records created on "wiki" type databases are not subject to strict verification. In addition, we are seeing reports of significant political bias in the "vetting" process for data added to such databases. If the gatekeepers disagree with your addition, it can be edited or expunged. It is "book burning" in the digital age. Hence the records may have questionable quality. "History is written by the victors"...

So, yes, I would like to have this latest technology for making long term storage media. Pessimistically, I expect it to be abused by anybody wanting an advantage over somebody else.

Finally, this latest technology does not solve the problem of being able to read the media in the future... Anybody here who can read cave paintings? How about Sanskrit text? How many 8 track tape players still exist? Do you have a cassette tape player? (I still have one). The trend of technology leaves older tech sometimes irretrievable and perhaps even unrecognizable as storage media. Our descendants might be wearing our pretty glass data disks as jewelry because they don't know what they are...

Yes, I admit to being pessimistic. I still want to have this new 3D Glass media reader/writer in my computer system. You can trust me, I'll only record the truth, Really. Trust Me!

[GreyGeek]

GG:

Not just "oppressive" governments... It is a two sided blade.

How will our descendants know what is the truth and what is fabricated? We have enough trouble with that now.

Good point.

I also recall that the NSA built a data center in Utah that can store a Yettabyte of data. I.E., IIRC, store every byte transmitted on the Internet for the next 100 yrs.

[TWPonKubuntu]

GG;

You mean they have that time I traded a JuJuBe for a JellyBelly and didn't report the transaction to the franchise tax board? I'm doomed, doomed I tell you... Illegal trade in candy!

On a serious note, I recall reading about the Utah data hub too. Cue the ominous music in the background...