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AnonymousInactiveIBM RESEARCH SETS
NEW RECORD IN BACK-UP MEDIA TAPES
Made in IBM
Labs: IBM Research sets new record in magnetic tape data density
Important
milestone in storing, protecting and accessing increasing volumes of
data for a smarter planetZurich, Switzerland, 22 January 2010—IBM
researchers today announced they have demonstrated a world record in
areal data density on linear magnetic tape — a significant update to one
of the computer industry’s most resilient, reliable and affordable data
storage technologies.IBM demonstrates new record in magnetic
tape
data density.This breakthrough proves that tape technology
can increase capacity for years to come, which has important
implications, as tape storage systems are more energy efficient and
cost-effective than hard disk drive storage systems. Businesses and
governments use magnetic tape to store, protect and access large volumes
of important data, including: data and video archives, back-up files,
replicas for disaster recovery, and retention of information required
for regulatory compliance.The scientists at IBM Research –
Zurich, in cooperation with the FUJIFILM Corporation of Japan, recorded
data onto an advanced prototype tape, at a density of 29.5 billion bits
per square inch — about 39 times the areal data density of today’s most
popular industry-standard magnetic tape product*. To achieve this feat,
IBM Research has developed several new critical technologies, and for
the past three years worked closely with FUJIFILM to optimize its
next-generation dual-coat magnetic tape based on barium ferrite (BaFe)
particles.”This exciting achievement shows that tape storage is alive
and strong and will continue to provide users reliable data protection,
while maintaining a cost advantage over other storage technologies,
including hard disk drives and flash,” said Cindy Grossman, vice
president, IBM Tape and Archive Storage Systems.These new
technologies are estimated to enable cartridge capacities that could
hold up to 35 trillion bytes (terabytes) of uncompressed data**. This is
about 44 times*** the capacity of today’s IBM LTO Generation 4
cartridge. A capacity of 35 terabytes of data is sufficient to store the
text of 35 million books, which would require 248 miles (399 km) of
bookshelves.”This tape storage density demonstration represents a step
towards developing technologies to achieve tape areal recording
densities of 100 billion bits per square inch and beyond. Such
technologies will be necessary to keep up with the rapid increase in
digital information. IBM is in the unique position to help clients
store, maintain and analyze the wealth of data accumulating, and thus
help them achieve efficiencies and advantages in the way they do
business,” comments Evangelos Eleftheriou, IBM Fellow.Critical
business data is often contained in automated tape libraries, where one
or more tape drives service dozens to thousands of tape cartridges.
High-end tape libraries can store petabytes — millions of gigabytes — of
information. On a per-gigabyte basis, tape systems currently cost about
one-fifth to one-tenth of a hard disk drive (HDD) storage systems,
depending on the size. Also, tape is by far one of the most
energy-efficient storage technology available today because tape
cartridges only consume energy when being accessed unlike disks, which
spin continuously.For the past several years, scientists from
IBM Research – Zurich have dramatically improved the precision of
controlling the position of the read-write heads, leading to a more than
25-fold increase in the number of tracks that can be squeezed onto the
half-inch-wide tape. In addition, they have developed new advanced
detection methods to improve the accuracy of reading the tiny magnetic
bits, thereby achieving an increase in the linear recording density of
more than 50 percent. Another key enabling technology for achieving the
required track-follow performance in this demonstration was a new,
low-friction read-write head developed by IBM Research – Almaden, which
has also been collaborating with FUJIFILM to develop next-generation
media.IBM has a long history of innovation in magnetic-tape data
storage. Its first commercial tape product, the 726 Magnetic Tape Unit,
was announced nearly 60 years ago. It used reels of half-inch-wide tape
that each had a capacity of about 2 megabytes. The areal density
demonstration announced today represents a potential increase in
capacity of 17,500,000 times compared with IBM’s first tape drive
product. This announcement reaffirms IBM’s continued commitment and
leadership in magnetic tape technology.As the planet becomes
more intelligent, integrated and interconnected, there will be an
explosive growth in the rate at which data is created. The majority of
this data, such as transportation traffic patterns, the food supply
chain, image rich media, and health and financial industries, will be
stored on tape.Technical details: IBM’s world-record achievement
leverages notable improvements in four areas of the magnetic tape system
1. New high-density, dual-coated particulate magnetic tape: Developed
by FUJIFILM Corporation in Japan in close collaboration with IBM
Research scientists, this next-generation version of its NANOCUBIC(TM)
tape uses a new ultra-fine, perpendicularly-oriented barium-ferrite
magnetic medium that enables high-density data recording without using
expensive metal sputtering or evaporation coating methods.2.
Advanced servo control technologies for ultra accurate head positioning:
Three new servo control technologies have been developed by IBM
Research – Zurich, leading to a more than 25-fold increase in the number
of data tracks that can be squeezed onto the half-inch-wide tape:
* a new servo pattern, enabling the generation of high-bandwidth
nanometer-scale position information;
* a new method for
detecting and decoding the position information encoded in the servo
pattern, and
* advanced state-space-based control concepts
that, combined with the other two technologies, culminated in the
demonstration of an extremely precise track-follow performance of less
than 24 nm standard deviation from the target track position.
3. These technologies were instrumental in reducing the track width to
less than 0.45 micrometers.4. Innovative signal-processing
algorithms for the data channel: An advanced data read channel based on a
new data-dependent noise-predictive, maximum-likelihood (DD-NPML)
detection scheme was developed at IBM Research – Zurich to enable the
accurate detection of the data despite the reduction in the
signal-to-noise ratio resulting from the use of an ultra-narrow 0.2-µm
data reader head. With this technique, which also takes the noise
characteristics of FUJIFILM’s BaFe medium into account, a linear density
increase of more than 50 percent relative to LTO Generation 4 was
achieved.5. Low-friction GMR (giant magnetoresistive)
read/write head assemblies: Two new head technologies have been
developed by the tape development and research teams at IBM Research –
Almaden, namely, a new reduced-friction head assembly that allows the
use of smoother magnetic tapes and an advanced GMR head module
incorporating optimized servo readers. These head technologies were
critical for achieving the required track-follow performance mentioned
above.*The demonstration was performed at product-level tape
speeds (2 meters per second) and achieved error rates that are
correctable using standard error-correction techniques to meet IBM’s
performance specification for its LTO Generation 4 products.
**Note
that this calculation assumes a roughly 12% increase in tape length due
to the reduced medium thickness.
Note that this has been rounded up
from 43.75 times.
http://www.zurich.ibm.com/news/10/storage.html -
AuthorJanuary 25, 2010 at 10:33 AM
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