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THE EVOLUTION OF

Storage
Technologies

W W W.GO4HOSTING.COM

Contents
1

Introduction

Storage Technologies Down the ages

a ) Early Years 1920s to 1950s
i.

Magnetic Tape

ii.

Magnetic Drum

iii. William Tubes

iv.

Selectron Tube

b) Middle Years 1950 to 2000s

i.

Delay Line Memory

ii.

Magnetic Core

iii. Hard Disk Drive (HDD)

iv.

Virtual Memory

v.

IBM 1360 Photo-Digital Storage System

vi. Bubble memory

vii. Floppy Disk
viii. Compact Disc
ix. Magneto-Optical Disc
x.

CompactFlash

xi. Digital Video Disc

xii. Microdrive
c) Present: 2000 onwards
i.

USB Flash Drive

ii.

Blu-Ray Optical Disc

iii. Cloud Based Storage System

Conclusion
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Introduction
In the year 1984, a young Steve Jobs unveiled the first Apple Macintosh computer with a
verse from Bob Dylans famous song - The times they are a changing. Although
composed and sang by Dylan for another time and context, this gesture by Jobs, invoking
Dylans revered anthem of change was symbolic of the constant and rapid changes the
technology world would be subjected to in future years. It also signaled the need to quickly
get accustomed to new and rapid technology changes in the future.
Those born in the 80s and 90s would be familiar with joy of using their personal
computers (PCs) for the first time for their various personal and professional jobs.
Similarly, they would also be familiar with the pain of storing their data for future use
during those early years. Storage was not easy. Nor was it cheap. Expensive floppy disks
that were worth an arm and a leg, Compact Discs failed to provide enough space to store
even a single movie in one disc and DVDs that got corrupted with a single speck of dust.
Storage was a cumbersome process compared to current times. Also, multiple-use of the
same device was not an option unless one was a technology geek and knew the complex
process of rewriting data into these devices.
Cut to the present. External Hard Drive Disks (HDD) and Pen
Drives rule the roost. Each of these with the ability to store
more data than a PC. Added to it is the advantage of multiple
usage. Users no longer need to purchase multiple External
HDDs or Pen Drives to store their data. The same device can
be used by multiple times by removing old data and filling
them with new ones.
This journey from floppy disks that stored data in Megabytes
(MBs) to Pen Drives that store data in Terabytes (TB) has been
challenging and remarkable. This e-book is meant for those
who are interested in this slice this history.

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Early Years

1920s
to

1950s

Page |

Storage: Down the Ages

MAGNETIC TAPE
The Magnetic Tape is considered
as the rst storage technology
device invented by Fritz
Peumer, a German-Austrian
engineer in the year 1928. Its
primary purpose was to record
sound and soon after for
recording videos as well.
A magnetic tape consists of a long and narrow
plastic ribbon which is coated with either iron oxide
or similar magnetic material. It provides a compact
platform to preserve varied forms of data, information,
or images. Magnetic tapes brought a much needed revolution in the broadcast and
recording industry. During that age when radio was live, it allowed users to record the
programming. It also allowed recordings to be made in multiple parts, without rendering
much loss to sound the quality. The most beneficial aspect of using this as a storage
medium was recordings on tape could easily be run on playback. Moreover, the
recordings on tape could be erased, as and when needed, and the tape could be further
used to record new set of information. Owing to this reusability factor, it was introduced
as data storage medium when it was first used in the auxiliary memory of computer in
1950s.
Despite being a preferred medium to record or store data, magnetic tape could not meet
the rising needs of users. The problem associated with magnetic tape was that over the
course of few years or months, it would suffer from deterioration disorder called
sticky-shed syndrome. This happened predominantly because of the absorption of
moisture into the binder of tape.Hence, it was almost impossible to preserve the data for
long span.

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MAGNETIC DRUM
The magnetic tape made way
for the magnetic drum. Invented
by Gustav Tauschek in Australian
in 1932, it was a random-access
storage device, which was used
as a primary computer memory.
It later developed as an auxiliary
storage device.
A magnetic drum is a metallic cylinder which is coated
with magnetic iron-oxide or ferromagnetic materials
on which programs and data could be stored. It was
based on the invention of magnetic tape. However,
magnetic drum had a unique advantage over tape - it
could retrieve data faster. Magnetic drum offered the same advantages as magnetic tape
did, such as various recordings can be done as and when needed. Besides, this the data
or information stored on magnetic drum can also be replayed or erased.
However, unlike magnetic tapes, magnetic drums were not moveable. The drum had to be
permanently mounted in the device, and this led to gradual decline in the fame that this
storage medium had garnered soon after its invention.

WILLIAMS TUBES
Developed in the late 1940s in
England, the Williams tube was a
cathode ray tube named after its
inventor Freddie Williams. It was
the rst random-access digital
storage device which could store
binary data electronically. It
stored 1024 bits of information or
data on a single tube.
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The William tubes were based on a scientific phenomenon called secondary emission that
occurs on cathode ray tubes. Professor Williams and his colleagues used a series of
electrostatic cathode-ray tubes to store data of information digitally. Some Williams tube
were also made from radar-type CRTs with a phosphor coating, which further made the
data or information visible, whereas other tubes were purpose-built which had no such
coating. Williams tube was earlier used as a storage device in early computers.
A drawback of Williams tubes was it reliability with the passage of time. As it did not have
the ability to preserve data in secure environment for long durations, it was slowly
replaced with new storage devices. Apart from this, the working or configuring
installations of Williams tubes had to be performed manually.

SELECTRON TUBE
The Selectron Tube was developed by Jan
Rajchman and his group at the Radio
Corporation of America (RCA) under the
direction of Vladimir Zworykin in 1948. It was
an early form of digital computer memory that
stored digital information as electrostatic
charges in vacuum tube.
Selectron tubes were complex and complicated structurally. A major difference between
Selectron and other electron tubes of that era was that Selectron tubes were entirely
digital whereas rest of the tubes were not. Other digital storage devices, such as Williams
tubes, required precise analog selection and controlled voltage. They also required
efficient support circuitry which can guide electron precisely. Whereas Selectron gated
multiple fixed electron beams using bi-level voltages which did not need high precision.
Although Selectron tubes used the technologies similar to Williams tubes, but Selectron
tubes were much more reliable and faster than Williams tubes. The only problem
associated with Selectron tubes was that they were much more costly. A 256-bit Selectron
was projected to cost somewhere around $500. As a result, Williams tubes became much
more prominent than Selectron tubes.
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Middle Years

1950s
to

2000s

Page |

DELAY LINE MEMORY

Delay line memory was a
sequential-access memory
that was used in some early
digital computers. Delay line
memory was a refreshable
memory, and therefore, it was
prevalent before the advent
of random access memory.

An engineer, J. Presper Eckert, developed the technology of line delay systems, which was
specifically focused on improving radar system and mechanism during the World War II.
Using this technology, data was compressed to sound waves and then was transferred
through a medium. Delay line memory involved three steps: turning electric pulses into
sound waves; transmitting those through tubes; and re-electrifying those at the other end.
Analog delay line technology was used to delay propagation of analog signals.
Delay-line memory systems had the capacity of a few thousand bits earlier, and the
recirculation time was measured in microseconds. To read or write a particular bit stored
in delay-line memory system, it was necessary to wait for a particular bit to circulate
through the line into the electronics. Owing to this delay in the sequential-access memory,
it was never a preferred option.

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MAGNETIC CORE

Magnetic cores gained immense popularity in the years between 1955 and 1975. It was a
predominant form of random-access memory that used small magnetic toroids or rings
through which wires were connected to write and read information. Each core had the
capacity to store one bit of information, and they were magnetized. With passage of time,
the size of core and wires were reduced drastically, and the memory density of core
increased gradually. However, extreme level of proficiency and expertise were required to
manufacture such a device. During the late 1960s, the cost of production declined from
about $1 per bit to about 1 cent per bit. Later in 1970s, the introduction of semiconductor
memory chips led to rapid increase in storage capacity in conjunction with decline in price,
and magnetic core memory became the most commonly used memory in computers at
that time.

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HARD DISK DRIVE (HDD)

An HDD was a data storage device
used for storing as well as fetching
digital information using rotating
hard disks or platters, coated with
magnetic material. In HDD, data
could be accessed randomly.
Introduced by IBM in 1956, hard disks
became a prominent secondary
storage device for computers in the
following years. At that time, the size
of HDDs was not portable. However,
several
companies
started
manufacturing the device.
They
worked hard to minimize the size of
hard disks and to enhance its
capacity. As a result, HDDs became
much more prevalent over the years,
and even today, most of the modern
era servers and computers make use
of HDD to store or retrieve data in the
most secure way. This happened
primarily because of the storage
capacity and performance offered by
HDDS.
Moreover, it was a
non-volatile memory, which means
that data could be stored and
retained
even
during
power
curtailment.

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VIRTUAL MEMORY
In the late 1950s, the concept of
virtual memory was introduced to
extend primary memory and to
ensure that such an extension could
be used practically by programmers
without facing any complications.
Virtual memory enabled a computer
to use its storage capability and to
switch rapidly among multiple
programs. It permitted computers to
do
multi-tasking
and
multi-programming.
However, before the concept of
virtual
memory
could
be
implemented
in
mainstream
computer systems, various issues
had to be addressed.
Virtual
memory was based on dynamic
address
translation
and
the
hardware which could support that
were expensive. Moreover, it was
difficult to build the hardware with
such specifications and precisions.
Later, in 1969, an IBM research team
built a virtual memory overlay system
which worked better than other
controlled systems of that time. As a
result,
virtual
memory
was
introduced in mini-computers.

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IBM 1360 PHOTO-DIGITAL STORAGE SYSTEM

IBM 1360 Photo-Digital Storage System (PDDS) was an online archival of storage system
for large data centers. It was the first storage system device which was specifically
designed to store a terabit of data. It used thin strips of film and it contained data written
by electronic beam and wet photographic development process.
IBM 1360 PDDS stored data on index card sized pieces of thin and stiff photographic film
which could be read or retrieved individually. The architectural system of PDDS was based
on sophisticated error correction and a pneumatic robot mechanism to move the strips of
the photographic film, and this was a complex process. Consequently, the manufacturer
decided to put a halt on the production of PDDS.

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10

BUBBLE MEMORY
Bubble Memory was a kind of
non-volatile computer memory
invented by Andrew Bobeck. It
used a thin lm of magnetic
material used specically to
store or hold data and
information in small magnetized
areas, which are usually like
bubbles.The operation of bubble
memory was similar to that of
delay line memory. The
magnetized areas of bubble
memory were read by applying
external magnetic eld.

The technology related to Bubble memory gained immense acceptance and was
considered the most promising storage technology then. The memory density and
performance of Bubble memory were higher than any other storage device invented till
then. It was widely used during the 1970s and 1980s. Although the efficiency, capability
and speed of bubble memory were comparable to rest of the storage devices of that era,
yet bubble memorys popularity declined in late 1980s. This happened primarily because
of the introduction of semi-conductor storage devices and chips, which offered much
higher memory density and reliability.

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11

FLOPPY DISK

A floppy disk is a type of disk storage device which has a disk of thin magnetic storage
medium surrounded by plastic carrier. Initially, floppy disks were primarily meant to store
or load microcode into computer systems. At that time, the size of a floppy disk was as
large as 8 inches, and later on, it reduced to as small as 3.5 inches.
In early 1970s, IBM released a read/write floppy disk. Floppy disks offered higher
efficiency and convenience to store and transfer data. As a result, it became the most
widely used data storage device.The floppy disks were the primary or main external
writable storage device used in computers for more than two decades. Before 1990s,
most computing environments were non-networked, and floppy disks were the most
widely used storage device to transfer data between computers.

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12

COMPACT DISC

Compact Disc or CD is a digital optical storage device which was primarily developed to
store and play audio tracks or sound recordings. Later on, CDs were used as video storage
devices as well. Several forms of CDs were later invented, such as rewritable media, Video
Compact Disc (VCD), or Super Video Compact Disc (SVCD). It was developed by Sony and
Phillips for distributing music. Audio CDs and CD players have been commercially
available since 1982.
A CD can store up to 700 MB of data or almost 80 minutes of sound recordings. This high
capability to store data and convenience to transfer data from one source to another
made CDs a widely accepted storage device worldwide. Even today, CD is a preferred
storage device used across the globe. However, with the advent of smart chips and USB,
the sales of audio CDs and VCDs have been dropped in recent years.

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13

MAGNETO-OPTICAL DISCS

Magneto-Optical Disc usually referred to as MOD emerged in the 1990s. It was a

combination of magnetic and optical technologies to store and/or retrieve digital
information and data. The most advantageous aspect associated with Magneto-Optical
Discs was that they could be rewritten several times. Not only were MODs faster than CDs,
but they could also be formatted with any file system. MODs have the intelligence to verify
the information or data for integrity after writing it to a disc, and let the operating system
know about the problems that could occur while writing. This makes MOD a highly reliable
storage device. However, owing to the slow writing time and the higher cost of production,
MODs did not garner high acceptance amongst users.

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14

COMPACT FLASH (CF)

It was introduced by SanDisk in early 1990s, and was also known as flash memory, as it
used flash memory in an enclosed disc. Although the dimensions of CFs were larger than
other storage mediums or memory cards, the high capacity of CFs made them the most
widely accepted storage device. It became the most preferred memory storage option
among professional electronic device and camera manufacturers.
CF remains the most popular storage device even today, and is supported by many
professionals or high end consumer devices. As of 2014, most of the digital camera
manufacturers, including Canon and Nikon, use CF for their still cameras.

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15

DIGITAL VIDEO DISC

It is a digital optical storage device invented and developed by Sony, Toshiba, Phillips, and
Panasonic in 1995. It is a bigger and faster alternative for CDs, and it can store any
multimedia data as well. DVDs are widely used for software and other computer files
including gaming videos. While the dimensions of DVDs are same as that of CDs, yet DVDs
offer much higher data storage capacity.
DVDs came in read-only and read-write formats, and even in rewritable formats. A digital
video disc or DVD can store any kind of digital data. DVD format has gained immense
popularity among movie distributors. This has happened primarily because of the
superior quality of moving pictures and sound provided by the DVDs. Apart from this,
DVDs also offer longer lifespan of the stored data.

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16

MICRODRIVE

In 1999, IBM released Microdrive in 170 MB and 340 MB capacities. At that time,
Microdrive was the smallest hard drive. It contained small, spinning disk platters to store
digital data. Till 2006, many devices contained Microdrive for data storage because of the
advantages it offered, such as higher capacity and enhanced efficiency. Moreover, it also
had better mechanism to handle power loss.
However, after 2006, with the advent of CompactFlash cards with higher capacity and USB
flash drives, the usage of Microdrive witnessed a sudden decline. Moreover, because
Microdrive was a mechanical device, it was more sensitive to external physical shocks or
variation in temperature. A Microdrive would not survive a 4-foot fall!

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Present

2000

O NWA R D S

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17

USB FLASH DRIVE

USB Flash drives are data storage devices that include flash memory enclosed in a small
container with a USB interface. USB Flash drives can be used to store data or information,
including videos and images, as well as to transfer those among various devices. This
storage device was faster and had a great capacity to store multimedia data as well. IBMs
USB Flash Drive became available in December 2000, and it had a storage capacity of 8 MB,
which was almost five times than that of a floppy disk.
One of the prime reasons that helped USB Flash drives gain instant popularity was that
they could not be scratched like optical discs. More importantly, USB Flash drives were
more resilient to magnetic erasure or physical shock. An USB Flash drive uses NAND-type
flash memory to store digital information. With steady improvement in terms of capacity
as well as constant decrease in size, USB Flash drives became the most widely used
external storage device.

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18

BLU-RAY OPTICAL DISC

It is an upgraded version of optical disc storage device and was specifically designed to
supersede the DVD format. It can be used to store high-definition (HD) video at 1080p,
whereas older DVDs had the capability of 480p resolution only. Blu-ray received its name
for the relatively shorter wavelength blue laser that reads the data on disc. It had a
capability of reading data stored at a higher density as compared to the red laser which
was earlier used in DVDs.
The main application of Blu-ray optical disc is as a medium for video material and physical
distribution of video games for the Xbox One, PlayStation3, and PlayStation 4. Several
movie distributors prefer this storage medium over DVDs to distribute movies among
consumers.

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17

CLOUD STORAGE

It is a model of data storage in which digital data is stored in logical pools and the physical
storage spans across various servers located in varied locations. The entire storage
environment is managed, monitored, and owned by a hosting company. Hosting
companies not only ensure that data is available and accessible round-the-clock for users,
but also protect the data from the threats of loss or damage.
This storage approach is the most admired way to store data or to retrieve them as and
when needed. Cloud storage architecture comprises of several resources and is highly
tolerant and durable. Several organizations across the globe have been leveraging the
benefits of this storage system, and this is claimed to be the most future-ready storage
system.Right from the capabilities of storage device till security of highly critical data, cloud
storage system offers a sea of advantages for users.

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18

Conclusion
Storage technologies are witnessing rapid strides with each passing day. This has been
fuelled by increased adoption of computers in all realms which has increased the demand
for higher storage capacity as well as efficient and secure storage environment. As a
result, data storage technologies have witnessed and experienced consistent evolution.
Gone are the days when businesses had to shell out huge amount of money to store data.
For example, the storage capacity of the first disk drive storage introduced by IBM was 3.75
MB, and it was 60 inches long, 68 inches high and 29 inches wide. If thats not enough to
raise your eyebrows, then here comes another surprise - it was available on lease for
$3,200 per month!
With technological advancements in the world of data storage system, current data
storage solutions have successfully been able to meet market demands, expectations, and
requirements. But, innovation has no end, and the day is not far when we might be able
to store 100 TB of data in a single USB drive.

Bibliography
1.
2.
3.

www.zetta.net
www.onextrapixel.com
www.computerhistory.org

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