Digital data storage for the long run.

• Author: Swartz, Nikki
• Position: UP FRONT

Long-term storage and recovery of digital information is something that everyone--from governments and businesses to home computer users--is struggling with today. Even as more and more information goes digital, there is currently no sure-fire way to ensure that such data will be accessible in the future.

According to a Science Daily report, University of California-Santa Cruz (UCSC) scientists are working on a solution. Pergamum, named after an ancient Greek library, uses hard drives to provide energy-efficient, cost-effective, long-term digital data storage. The distributed network of intelligent, disk-based storage devices was developed by UCSC graduate students Mark Storer and Kevin Greenan and researcher Kaladhar Voruganti of NetApp.

"There is a risk that an entire generation's cultural history could be lost if people aren't able to retrieve that data," Storer told Science Daily. "Everyone is switching to digital cameras, but we've never demonstrated that digital data can be reliably preserved for a long time."

The researchers said they designed the system to provide reliable, energy-efficient data storage using off-the-shelf components. The key, however, is that it also has the ability to evolve over time as storage technologies change.

According to Storer, Pergamum uses individual building blocks consisting of a hard drive, a small, low-power processor similar to the kind used in an iPod, a flash memory card, and an Ethernet port. These units, called "tomes," are connected using relatively inexpensive Ethernet switches. Each tome is like a minicomputer, but with very low power demands, according to Science Daily. When not in use, it can shut down almost completely.

Even when active, the devices use less than 13 watts...