InternetNews.com reports that InPhase Technologies is close to making holographic storage a commercial reality. They are expected to ship holographic storage devices by as early as 2006 that hold 300 gigabytes of data. And by 2010 InPhase expects to produce devices that hold over 1.6 Terabytes of data.
By using all of the media instead of just the surface, holographic storage promises breakthroughs in storage density and cost and data transfer rates. It differs from spinning disk technology in that the media and head are fixed and the disk rotates very slowly; the company doesn't even track RPMs. Those differences also make holographic storage more reliable.
The initial product, a 130mm disk, is expected to hold 300 gigabytes (GB) of data — the equivalent of 462 CDs — with a transfer rate of 20 megabytes (MB) per second. InPhase says capacities for its "Tapestry" family of drives will reach 1.6 terabytes (TB) on a single disk by 2010.
