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Data storage is the recording (storing) of information (data) in a storage medium. DNA
and RNA, handwriting, phonographic recording, magnetic tape, and optical discs are all
examples of storage media. Recording is accomplished by virtually any form of energy.
Electronic data storage requires electrical power to store and retrieve data.
Contents
Recording media
Global capacity, digitization, and trends
See also
References
Further reading
Recording media
A recording medium is a physical material that holds information. Newly created
information is distributed and can be stored in four storage media–print, film,
magnetic, and optical–and seen or heard in four information flows–telephone,
radio and TV, and the Internet[3] as well as being observed directly. Digital
information is stored on electronic media in many different recording formats.
With electronic media, the data and the recording media are sometimes referred
to as "software" despite the more common use of the word to describe computer
software. With (traditional art) static media, art materials such as crayons may be
considered both equipment and medium as the wax, charcoal or chalk material
from the equipment becomes part of the surface of the medium.
Edison cylinder phonograph c. 1899.
Some recording media may be temporary either by design or by nature. Volatile The phonograph cylinder is a storage
medium. The phonograph may be
organic compounds may be used to preserve the environment or to purposely
considered a storage device.
make data expire over time. Data such as smoke signals or skywriting are
temporary by nature. Depending on the volatility, a gas (e.g. atmosphere, smoke)
or a liquid surface such as a lake would be considered a temporary recording medium if at all.
It has been estimated that the year 2002 was the beginning of the digital age for
information storage: an age in which more information is stored on digital
storage devices than on analog storage devices.[4] In 1986, approximately 1% of
On a reel-to-reel tape recorder (Sony
the world's capacity to store information was in digital format; this grew to 3% TC-630), the recorder is data storage
by 1993, to 25% by 2000, and to 97% by 2007. These figures correspond to less equipment and the magnetic tape is
than three compressed exabytes in 1986, and 295 compressed exabytes in a data storage medium.
2007.[4] The quantity of digital storage doubled roughly every three years.[5]
In a more limited study, the International Data Corporation estimated that the total amount of digital data in 2007 was 281
exabytes, and that the total amount of digital data produced exceeded the global storage capacity for the first time.[6]
A study published in 2011 estimated that the world's technological capacity to store information in analog and digital devices
grew from less than three (optimally compressed) exabytes in 1986, to 295 (optimally compressed) exabytes in 2007,[4] and
doubles roughly every three years.[5]
See also
References
1. Gilbert, Walter (Feb 1986). "The RNA World". Nature. 319 (6055): 618. Bibcode:1986Natur.319..618G (http://ads
abs.harvard.edu/abs/1986Natur.319..618G). doi:10.1038/319618a0 (https://doi.org/10.1038%2F319618a0).
2. Rotenstreich, Shmuel. "The Difference between Electronic and Paper Documents" (https://www.seas.gwu.edu/~s
hmuel/WORK/Differences/Chapter%203%20-%20Sources.pdf) (PDF). Seas.GWU.edu. The George Washington
University. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
3. Lyman, Peter; Varian, Hal R. (October 23, 2003). "HOW MUCH INFORMATION 2003?" (http://groups.ischool.ber
keley.edu/archive/how-much-info-2003/). UC Berkeley, School of Information Management and Systems.
Retrieved November 25, 2017.
4. Hilbert, Martin; López, Priscila (2011). "The World's Technological Capacity to Store, Communicate, and
Compute Information". Science. 332 (6025): 60–65. Bibcode:2011Sci...332...60H (http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/
2011Sci...332...60H). doi:10.1126/science.1200970 (https://doi.org/10.1126%2Fscience.1200970).
PMID 21310967 (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21310967).; free access to the article through here:
martinhilbert.net/WorldInfoCapacity.html
5. "video animation on The World’s Technological Capacity to Store, Communicate, and Compute Information from
1986 to 2010 (http://ideas.economist.com/video/giant-sifting-sound-0) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/201
20118072720/http://ideas.economist.com/video/giant-sifting-sound-0) 2012-01-18 at the Wayback Machine
6. "The Diverse and Exploding Digital Universe" (https://techliberation.com/2008/03/14/idcs-diverse-exploding-digita
l-universe-report/). Retrieved 2008-03-14.
Further reading
Bennett, John C. (1997). " 'JISC/NPO Studies on the Preservation of Electronic Materials: A Framework of Data
Types and Formats, and Issues Affecting the Long Term Preservation of Digital Material" (http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/
services/papers/bl/jisc-npo50/bennet.html). British Library Research and Innovation Report 50.
History of Computer Storage from 1928 to 2013 (https://www.zetta.net/about/blog/history-data-storage-technolog
y)
History of Computer Data Storage (http://www.computerhistory.org/storageengine/timeline/)
History of Storage from Cave Paintings to Electrons (http://www.remosoftware.com/info/history-of-storage-from-c
ave-paintings-to-electrons/)
The Evolution of Data Storage (https://www.securedatarecovery.com/infographics/the-evolution-of-data-storage)
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