On the horizion
The current DVD technology (dual layer) can store about 9GB of data on a single disk. The recorders cost just under $200 for a decent 16X unit.
Next in the pipline is ther
BlueRay:
bq. Blu-ray, also known as Blu-ray Disc (BD) is the name of a next-generation optical disc format jointly developed by the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA), a group of leading consumer electronics and PC companies (including Dell, Hitachi, HP, JVC, LG, Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Pioneer, Philips, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, TDK and Thomson). The format was developed to enable recording, rewriting and playback of high-definition video (HD), as well as storing large amounts of data. A single-layer Blu-ray Disc can hold about 25GB, which can be used to record over 2 hours of HDTV or more than 13 hours of SDTV. There are also dual-layer versions of the discs that can hold approximately 50GB.
Pricing is estimated to start around $4,000
(reality check - the first true DVD recorders were close to $10,000)
Now, from an
article at Slashdot, we see that the Pioneer is working with Ultraviolet Lasers and proposing a disk with 500GB! From this link to
The Inquirer:
bq.
Pioneer ultraviolet laser promises 500GB disks
Japanese hardware maker Pioneer has developed a technique which will allow optical drives to store 500GB of data.
Fun time to be into computers. Now if I just had 500GB of content. Imagine though, being able to back up a large set of servers wiht just a few disks...
Posted by DaveH at November 10, 2004 6:57 PM