#glass storage

Microsoft Research recently introduced Project Silica, a storage technology that uses ultrafast laser optics to store data in quartz glass. Project Silica is designed and built for large-scale storage systems, including cloud infrastructure. A femtosecond laser (similar to the ones used in LASIK surgery) encodes data in glass and creates layers of three-dimensional nanoscale gratings and deformations at various depths and angles. Machine learning algorithms, then, read the data by decoding images and patterns that are created as polarized light shines through the glass. It is also seen as a new long-term storage solution as it has a lifespan of more than 1,000 years, unlike hard disk drives that can wear out after three to five years or magnetic tapes that can only last five to seven. Hard silica glass can also withstand being boiled in hot water, baked in an oven, microwaved, flooded, scoured, demagnetized, and other environmental threats. Glass storage also has the potential to become a lower-cost option because you only write the data onto the glass once. collaborated to successfully store and retrieve the entire 1978 “Superman” movie on a piece of glass roughly the size of a drink coaster, 75 by 75 by 2 millimeters thick. Read more in our articles including "Microsoft's Project Silica uses glass to store data" and "Microsoft working on Project Glass competitor".