The world has entered the era of the global data storage crisis. Servers located all over the world are going to face the huge problem of data storage. It is believed that the “staggering amount of information” will be the main reason for the crisis. 

Alabama University researchers state that in the next three years, the size of the world’s data industry – the overall amount of data in the entire world – is going to grow up by 300%! Currently, all this data is stored in banks of servers, which are located in huge storage facilities (data centers).

Unfortunately, the problem of creating additional space “in the cloud” in response to this problem is not limited to the construction of additional premises to host servers.

Aston University scientists point to the fact that data centers are already consuming 1,5% of the electricity produced in the world. This is also the reason why building new placements for more powerful servers is problematic. 

According to those facts, scientists are working on the development of new data storage capabilities that will be around 5 nanometers in size. This is around 10 000 times less than a single human’s hair.  At the same time, such servers will allow for increasing the storage capacity of data storage on digital devices.

“Simply building new data centers without parallel improvements in storage technology is not the solution to be aspired to,” says Dr. Matt Derry, lecturer in chemistry at Aston University’s College of Engineering and Physical Sciences. “We are increasingly facing the risk of a so-called data storage crisis, so improving data storage solutions is a must, which will allow us to keep pace with the demands of the modern world.”

“We propose to consider the possibility of using advanced achievements in the field of polymer chemistry. After all, this can open the way to increasing the amount of data that can be placed on media,” adds Dr. Amit Kumar Sarkar, a researcher in the field of materials chemistry.

“Improving the efficiency of current technologies will significantly reduce the need for expensive, environmentally harmful construction of new “mega data centers”. The next three years will be decisive. The global data sphere is predicted to grow to 175 zettabytes by 2025, with one zettabyte roughly equaling one billion terabytes,” concludes Sarkar.