Storage Management Strategies for the CIO
 |
HD-ROM (High-Density - Read Only Memory) is a high-capacity storage technology developed at Norsam Technologies in conjunction with an IBM research group that enables a disk to store hundreds of times as much information as a CD-ROM. HD-ROM uses a very narrow, finely-focused particle beam (charged gallium ions) to write data. HD-ROM technology can be used to write data on different types of media, such as metal or other durable materials, to create virtually indestructible storage.
HD-ROM's particle beam, at a size of 50 nanometers, enables a storage capacity of 165 gigabytes on disks the same size as a CD or digital versatile disk (DVD). In comparison, CD-ROM uses an 800-nanometer wavelength laser beam for a storage capacity of 650 megabytes, and DVD-ROM uses a 350-nanometer wavelength laser for a storage capacity of 4.7 gigabytes. HD-ROM was designed to store large databases, such as those required by government agencies, banks, insurance companies, scientific users, and libraries. In addition to the enormous storage capacity, HD-ROM's benefits over traditional archival storage systems (such as magnetic tape and RAID) include faster access times, greater durability, and lower costs.