Hard disk: back on the molecular storage

The hard drive is becoming 50,000 times more dense. Finally, it remains to the road before coming to industrialise the process...

We you talked about at the beginning of the year, IBM would have found a way to store a magnetic bit with only 12 atoms. Other researchers of the University of Karlsruhe, at Strasbourg and Tokyo would for their successful feat with a single molecule of 51 atoms. If researchers at these universities are not better than those of IBM, the feat is in the form of the maintenance of the State of the bit.

The Interior of a kind of shell maintained by these 50 atoms constituting the organic molecule, they placed a last atom of iron. Thus, by spin transition, the iron atom can be charged either positively or negatively to induce a change of State and therefore be read a posteriori as a bit to 0 or 1.

Molecular storage of KIT (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology)

Toshio Miyamachi, researcher at the Center for functional nanostructures of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) indicates that with its structure as nanomolecule, it is possible to store 50,000 times more information on an area equivalent to our current with a reliability hard drives since it is here to add or remove from the electrons in an atom of iron. To compare, if we take a disk trays of 1 sold To currently in the trade, we could then obtain almost 50 inches (or 50 million GB) with this technique.

If the technique seems simple, in practice it is more complicated because he must write the bit in each nanomolecule. With our technology of reading and writing at positioned magnetic head perpendicular to the plateau, he will have to find a way to reduce the finesse of this head to match the fineness of the molecule. A new field of research is therefore opened for its universities and which we will still hear talk about for years to come.

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Dropbox: two times more storage for the same price

Dropbox feels visibly threatened the market online storage and synchronization "cloud" where these new efforts...

The online storage market is increasingly competitive and one of its players the most, Dropbox, has announced a significant decrease in the rates charged to its pay-TV offerings. Or rather, it doubles the storage capacity proposed for unchanged rates, which is not quite the same thing, since the amount levied on bank card by the service remain, it, unchanged.

Thus, to be more competitive Drive of Google services, Microsoft SkyDrive, Hubic of OVH, Cloud Drive of Amazon and others, Dropbox offers now not 50 but 100 GB for $ 9.99 per month and 200 GB for $ 19.99 per month. And synchronization specialist was also able to launch a new offer of 500 GB of online storage space, charged $ 49.99 per month.

Despite these efforts, Dropbox is more expensive than most of its competitors. The 100 GB being charged $ 4.99 a month in Google, and $ 4.16 per month at Microsoft. But with the principle of sponsorship of Dropbox (500 MB earned by recommendation), it is possible to significantly extend the limit of 2 GB for free available up to 18 GB. Good, of course, until there is little time, Microsoft offered on SkyDrive 25 GB to a Windows Live account holders...

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Online storage: Lastly, the clients for Amazon Cloud Drive

Amazon strengthens its offer Cloud Drive from clients for Windows and Mac.

It is the war of the "cloud". Online storage is becoming a more and more competitive market and the recent launch of Google Drive did that accelerate the changes made by the players to their offers. Thus, Dropbox is more generous still in storage in sponsorships, Microsoft accepts on his SkyDrive files up to 2 GB and offers clients for all OS (desktop and mobile), Hubic builds on the unlimited price, etc.

There was only Amazon which had not taken the opportunity to improve the offer of its Cloud Drive. It is now because one learns that the digital locker to Amazon is more accessible via clients (finally) available for Windows and Mac (from Windows Vista and Mac OS X 10.6).

Amazon opens so very clearly his Drive Cloud storage of all types of files, and is not to be exceed the market where it is present since long. However, the offer remains fairly simplistic, and if small software in question facilitates the transfer of files from and to the Cloud Drive space, synchronization or collaborative work on stored documents are not in the program.

It's also a quite similar to most others, supply to see that 5 GB online storage space is available (the size of the music library is not counted). However, beyond this implementation free mouth, Go is charged $ 1 to the year. For $ 20 per year, the user has for example access to 20 GB of storage in the cloud, while Microsoft offers 25 GB with SkyDrive. And for 1 To, it will cost $ 1000 to the year... Is much more expensive than the $ 50 per month requested by Google Drive for the same storage space, and less interesting than the supply unlimited of Hubic (OVH) invoiced €84 per year.

Another large deficit, Amazon Cloud Drive does not propose to client for smartphones or tablets. In short, it still work Amazon to their place of choice in many online storage services. Probably starting with boost its free offer to attract users, before hope to sell them additional GB...

> Download the Amazon Cloud Drive (Windows and Mac) desktop application

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Intel 313 Series: the new cache SSD hybrid storage

All the technical details of this new range of SSD are finally known. It is not oriented disk storage, but SSD designed for hybrid storage.

Intel formalizes the launch of its new line of flash memory drives by opening the product page on its website and its technical declination "ark" for the 20 GB and 24 GB. The Intel SSD 313 Series come succeed the Series 311 and are specially studied for as disk cache and not in discs for the operating systems or for ultra fast storage for example.

They strengthen the interests of technology home of the skier, the TRS (Smart Response Technology). This new way of coupling a flash disk and a disk tray to power - in part - combine performance and time response of a SSD drive and important storage of a disk trays, as the last Hitachi GST 4 To disk.

The launch of the caster of Santa Clara strategy is clear. The TRS is complemented by two other technologies which will further strengthen the user experience faster by booting the machine and connecting networks wireless very fast and almost transparent manner for the user. The first is called "Rapid Start", could not be more simple to understand, and the second is the aptly named "Smart Connect".

The 313 Series to return to the new flash drives launched by Intel, will decline in two sizes, 20 GB and 24 GB. The 20 GB disk, announced performance are 220 MB/s read and 100 MB/s sequential write. The 24 GB "turning" a little faster writing with 115 MB/s but loses a little read since it is only 160 MB / s.

In this type of configuration, the life of flash cells must be the longest possible, more they will often sought to delay the read and write orders which must be then sent the disc trays. Intel therefore having its flash NAND SLC Series 313, and non-MLC, for longevity, because this type of memory accepts a number more important Scriptures for each cell. On a comparative basis, the SLC would average more than 100,000 orders for writing, while the MLC could hold only about 10 000.

Available in a package 2.5 inches or in version mSATA, these Series 313 have unique interface SATA II 3 Gb/s, which seems well enough for the announced performance and especially the use that will be made of these SSD. To be given, should pay $ 120 for the 20 GB drive and $ 140 for 24 GB or $ 6 /Go to the first disc and $ 5.8 /Go to the second. It is not given, hope that manufacturers did not benefit to increase the rates of the final machines using this technology.

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Dell: storage arrays EqualLogic faster

It is now several years that Dell has initiated a diversification of its activities, focusing on the enterprise storage market. Giant has thus carried out two strategic buyouts in the middle of 2008 with EqualLogic data storage and Compellent in 2009. More recently, Ocarina Networks and are Exanet which were acquired by Dell.

Consistent with this strategy, the constructor has therefore presented two new SAN, the PS4100 and PS6100bays. These two products after another the previous PS4000 and PS6000 iSCSI SAN. Supporting hard drives and SSDS format 2.5 inch and 3.5-inch (SATA 7200tpm, SAS 10000/15000tpm), these new EqualLogic Arrays double the density of storage over the previous generation.

The PS4100 is thus available in configuration 2U, with storage capacity up to 21.6 To with disks of 2.5 inches and 36 To with 3.5-inch hard drives. The EqualLogic PS6100 Bay can in turn be delivered in configuration 2U or 4U, for a maximum capacity of 72 To. Network access is given to Gigabit Ethernet links. Side tariff, the PS4100 is available from 6895 euros, while the PS6100 is displayed from 22065 euros. Yes, we speak here of professional storage solutions...

These two iSCSI SAN arrays are also supplied with version 5.1 of the Dell EqualLogic firmware. It, according to Travis Vigil (Executive Director of the storage at Dell), significantly improves the performance of the new arrays from the "old". According to an internal test performed by Dell, the IOPS performance would be so improved 60%.

This update is also compatible with VSphere 5, the constructor who particularly cared for the integration of these new products with VMWare virtualization solutions. Several tools (EqualLogic Host Integration Tools for VMware 3.1, Compellent Storage Replication Adapter for vCenter SRM 5.0 or PowerVault Integration with VMware vCenter 5.0) should also see agenda here the end of the year. It must be said that 90% of users of Dell storage solutions use virtualization, and among them 80% chose a solution VMWare… Dell did not forget Microsoft with the arrival of new tools improving the integration of bays EqualLogic with Microsoft Hyper-V (Dell EqualLogic SAN Headquarters 2.2) and Dell EqualLogic Host Integration Tools for Microsoft 4.0.

In summary, Dell appears particularly confident for the future of the enterprise storage market. The constructor has also just strengthen the workforce of its stockage… division

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M - Disc: a storage medium that is 1,000 years?

Millenniata, a small American company, comes to associate with the Korean giant LG for the implementation of a whole new storage media is to take a very long time. M-Disc is a very close optical drive from the traditional DVD. Same capacity (4.7 GB), it reads on any type of DVD player. Except that its design allows it to withstand extreme conditions for 1,000 years!

On a M-Disc, the data are "engraved on inorganic materials, which cannot be overwritten, erased or corrupted by natural processes", says Millenniata site. His writing is done via a specific writer who "alter physically recording layer by creating real holes".

As a result, the M-Disc are therefore not rewritable. If the storage size is currently limited to 4.7 GB, the US firm plans to support densities of most important engraving for his support in the future. Finally when it comes to price, the cost of returns is logically important, since it was announced 3 $ $ (a little less than 2.10 euros) exhibit. Here's a short video demonstrating the reliability and soundness of the M-Disc.

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