50 TB Flash Drives…The Future of Flash Memory?

 When watching most science fiction movies, you probably can’t help thinking about how glad you are to live in such a simple, non-apocalyptic world. The only problem is, our world isn’t really that simple anymore. The fact is, it’s closer to science fiction than you think. Believe it or not, proof of this can be seen in the lengths that scientists have gone in discovering new and more efficient ways of making flash memory drives.

Just a decade ago, the best option that we had for easy on-the-go storage was a bulky and relatively fragile 3.5” hard disk drive. With IBM introducing the first commercial USB flash drives in 2000, the world quickly realized the amazing benefits of flash memory and as interest rose, so did the technology. Flash drives rose quickly from a mere 64 MB all the way to the 64 GB drives of today.

Technology didn’t stop there though as evidenced by the amount of articles we’ve written on the subject. The truth is, if you need a lot of portable memory and have a pocket full of cash to burn, you can buy a flash drive that can store 256 GB worth of your most precious pictures, videos, and documents and then some today. Just last week, Kingston introduced the first of it’s kind 256 GB Data Traveler flash drive. This massive storage space is enough to store 365 CDs, 54 DVDs, or 51,000 images, or in other words everything you could possibly need. With these kinds of sizes, it’s now feasible to store an entire drive full of HD projects on a 2 inch flash drive memory stick. While it would never be advisable to archive projects with untested technology, the possibilities are nonetheless mouth watering. What’s not great about it however is the price. To get your hands on this hot new technology will cost you more than $1,000. While $1,000 may seem like petty cash to some, I feel safe in guessing that this product is not within your price range and probably won’t be making your next annual budget.

The crazy advancements in flash memory don’t stop there though. Instead, it has now taken a turn toward present day science fiction. A new technology is being developed by Harvard scientists which could result in 50 Terabyte flash drives within the next 18 months. To achieve this breakthrough, they are using discs coated in protein from a salt marsh microbe. Who knew we’d have to go back to the organic world in order to advance technology. At the same time, imagine what you could do with that kind of storage space. It’s almost mind-boggling. If scientists from Harvard can actually pull this off, it would literally be possible to store all the contents of a small office complex on one tiny flash drive.

Depending on how long scientists can get these proteins to last on the drives, this could be the innovation that the archiving world desperately needs. Imagine being able to store every video project you’ve ever made on one flash drive that stays hooked up to your network or computer, and another flash drive for off-site storage. With the speed and ruggedness of flash memory added to the mix, this could indeed prove to be the solution that archivists need. However imagine what would happen if a person were to lose one of these drives. With the staggering amount of information these drives may hold, you could quite literally lose everything that you’ve ever done. No worries though, if scientists can find a way to make flash memory with 50 TB of space, I’m sure they’re not far away from making a time machine too.