MEMORY AND STORAGE

We have noted that part of the difficulty in creating processors with nanotubes or molecular electronics relates to complexity. Data storage structures are far less complex than processors and many new technologies are converging on this area, promising commercialization in five years or less. Information storage requirements continue to grow but vary in nature from one application to another and can be approached in many ways. Magnetic disks in computers have been increasing their capacity in line with Moore's law, and have a market at the moment of over $40 billion. The other type of information storage common to all computers is DRAM (dynamic random access memory). DRAM provides very quick access but is comparatively expensive per bit. Magnetic disks can hold much more information but it takes much longer to access the data. Also, DRAM is volatile—the information disappears when the power is switched off. The trade-offs between access speeds, cost, storage density and volatility dictate the architecture of computers with respect to information storage. While hard disk technology continues to offer increasing data densities and lower costs per bit, a number of nanotechnologies are promising new types of RAM that are non-volatile and could have enough capacity to make disk storage unnecessary for applications such as personal computers. Companies are forecasting commercial products within two to four year time frames. How much penetration each technology will achieve in the variety of areas in which storage is used depends on the complex interplay of factors that have led to the current division of data storage technologies, but it would certainly be surprising if the consequences weren't disruptive for the industries involved.