Skip the navigation
News

Nanotech will replace disk drives in 10 years, researcher says

Removing drives would make iPods, laptops and servers lighter, faster and more rugged

By Sharon Gaudin
November 1, 2007 12:00 PM ET

Computerworld - Nanotechnology will replace magnetic disk drives in iPods, laptops and servers within five to 10 years, making them more durable, lighter and faster.

That's according to Michael Kozicki, a researcher at Arizona State University who is developing ways to store data in nanowires instead of as electrons in cells. He's also researching ways to stack multiple layers of memory on top of a single layer of silicon.

All of this, Kozicki said, would mean dramatic advances in storage, as well as dramatic differences in the way we use our favorite devices.

"Someday you'll store all your music, movies, photos and favorite TV shows on something the size of an iPod. It'll all be right there," said Kozicki. "Nanotechnology will replace all the disk drives in the world. Sure, we could create a terabyte thumb drive, but if you could do that, why would you use magnetic disks that are everywhere from iPods to servers to data farms? If you drop a device, it could wreck the fragile disc drive. Not with this, though."

If device manufacturers can get rid of disk drives, laptops and MP3 players would be significantly more durable, faster and lighter, according to Kozicki. They also would boot up immediately and have much better memory capacity.

"This isn't pie in the sky," he said. "I'm not talking about flying robots delivering breakfast in the morning. This is not that far away. This is exciting to anyone who uses an iPod or a laptop or a server."

And Kozicki noted that he's not the only one looking to use nanotechnology in storage devices.

He pointed out that Micron Technology Inc., Qimonda AG and Adesto Technologies all have licensed such technology from Axon Technologies Corp., an Arizona State spin-off that commercializes its research. Kozicki also said Sony is experimenting with the technology but hasn't yet licensed it for official use.

"It's a tremendously exciting time," he added. "This is the tip of the iceberg in terms of companies working on this. Companies are turning to nanotechnology for the future of memory and storage."

The new technology could also be used to store multiple pieces of information in the same space that used to hold only one piece of data, Kozicki said.

Traditionally, each cell holds one bit of information. However, instead of storing simply a 0 or a 1, that cell could hold a 00 or a 01. Kozicki said the ability to double capacity that way -- without increasing the number of cells -- has already been proven. Now researchers are working to see how many pieces of data can be held by a single cell.

And another piece of the nano-storage puzzle lies in layering memory, he said.

Kozicki explained that today, only one layer of memory can sit on a silicon chip. Using ionized metal that he creates through nanoionics, he's able to stack memory layers -- two, four or maybe more -- on top of each other, and those layers would sit on top of the silicon.



Additional Resources
Forrester Consulting - Optimizing Users and Applications in a Mobile World
WHITE PAPER
Solving application issues over the WAN requires careful consideration. Based on their independent research, Forrester Consulting offers recommendations on how to tackle application performance issues, insufficient bandwidth and the inability to quickly restore users in a disaster.

Read now.

Security KnowledgeVault
WHITE PAPER
Security is not an option. This KnowledgeVault Series offers professional advice how to be proactive in the fight against cybercrimes and multi-layered security threats; how to adopt a holistic approach to protecting and managing data; and how to hire a qualified security assessor. Make security your Number 1 priority.

Read now.

Cut Communications Costs Once and for All
WHITE PAPER
New IP-based communications systems are being deployed by small and midsized businesses at a rapid rate. Learn how these organizations are enabling faster responsiveness, creating better customer experiences, speeding office or mobile interactions, and dramatically reducing existing communications costs.

Read now.

Storage White Papers
Datacenter Consolidation Best Practices Whitepaper
The benefits of storage consolidation are being realized by companies and seen as a way to streamline many storage-driven applications. Learn why the...
Eliminating VMware / Storage Related Performance Challenges
How to proactively monitor the performance in a Fibre Channel SAN / vSphere environment is always a concern. Understand the importance of a...
Cloud Environments Have Familiar Storage Challenges
Cloud environments have many storage challenges that are familiar to data center managers, but due to their density and abstraction, the issues become...
Eight Considerations for Evaluating Disk-Based Backup Solutions
In the past, the movement from tape- to disk-based backup has been less compelling due to the expense of storing backup data on...
ExaGrid Helps U.S. Federal Government Agencies Reduce Backup Windows and Improve Data Protection
The U.S. Government has been the largest user of tape-based backup systems since the 1970s. Most agencies have begun to deploy disk storage...
All Storage White Papers
Storage Webcasts
Understand Your Data: The Future of Backup and Archiving
Archiving and Backup are the foundation of the next generation of information governance. However, commodity data protection tools and basic archives are only...
Optimizing Networks for the Cloud
Join guest speaker, Rohit Mehra, IDC Director of Enterprise Communications Infrastructure, to explore current trends, discuss best practices for optimizing Data Center and...
Apps QuickStart Series Part 2: Designing and Deploying SQL Server on VMware vSphere
Download this webcast to learn about the design considerations for virtualizing SQL workloads, performance and scalability information and high-availability options, as well as...
Apps QuickStart Series Part 1: Designing and Deploying Exchange 2010 on VMware vSphere
Download this webcast to learn the virtual hardware design considerations for Exchange 2010, deployment using the building block approach, options for high-availability and...
Customer Spotlight: How IPC The Hospitalist Company Implemented Oracle on VMware
Have you been looking to hear about customer's experiences with the new VMware vCenter Site Recovery Manager product? View this webcast to learn...
All Storage Webcasts
Newsletter Sign-Up

Receive the latest news test, reviews and trends on your favorite technology topics

Choose a newsletter
  1. View all newsletters | Privacy Policy
IT Jobs