Magnetic tape storage for digital data is now 60 years old — and it looks its age. But in the days of flash memory and super-fast hard disks, this old-fashioned storage technology is about to get a big shot in the arm.

IBM and Fujifilm announced that their researchers have come up with technology that increases the density of data on tape by a factor of 40 times more than tape that is commonly used now. The new technology will allow 35 terabytes of storage on one tape. (A terabyte is 1,024 gigabytes.)

The companies managed to radically revise three factors: the ability to lay more tracks on each inch of tape, an improvement in the ability to accurately read smaller magnetic particles, and an improved low read-write head.

Tape has advantages over hard disk storage in two main areas:

• cost (tape costs about a tenth of hard disk space), and
• energy consumption (up to 300 times less than disks).

The latter is a big factor for many data centers, as power costs mount steadily.

The technology is not yet an available product, but it should give encouragement to those already using tape that there is a future for them, and it might give an plausible alternative for companies being hit by escalating power costs.

Tags: data, energy costs, magnetic tape