Easing Data Deluge.

• Author: Peterson, Eric
• Position: Boulder Instruments LLC - Brief Article

The fastest may not be fast enough. Those who record, track and analyze such phenomena as weather patterns find they can lose data because their computers can't record real-time changes quickly enough. They need processors that can record tons of data as events unfold.

That's what two engineers, Phil Brunelle and Ken Owens, learned quickly, prompting them in 1996 to found Longmont-based Boulder Instruments LLC. The company spent its first three years in R&D and market assessment, before producing the StreamStor, a small recorder that plugs into any PC and bypasses RAM -- the area of biggest bottleneck. It records data at 800 Mbps for two hours. Data go through StreamStor straight to the hard drive.

"That real-world data out there that you want to bring to disk requires a special memory system," Brunelle explained. "A case in point: imaging. Digital cameras create a lot of data. You can't stop recording because your disk drive can't keep up with it. You lose data."

Scientists traditionally use magnetic tape storage systems, which run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, Brunelle...