How Data Centers Use Glass Technology to Store Information for Thousands of Years

Innovative automated systems for storing vast amounts of data on glass could revolutionize the future of data centers.

In our data-driven world, everything relies on information—from the internet and industrial sensors to scientific data from particle colliders, all of which require secure and efficient storage solutions.

Back in 2014, Professor Peter Kazansky and his team at the University of Southampton demonstrated that lasers could be utilized for encoding hundreds of terabytes of data into nanostructures within glass, resulting in a data storage method anticipated to outlast the universe itself.

While their technique was impractical for industrial applications, Richard Black and his colleagues at Microsoft’s Project Silica have successfully demonstrated a similar glass-based technology. This innovation could pave the way for long-lasting glass data libraries in the near future.

“Glass can endure extreme temperatures, humidity, particulates, and electromagnetic fields,” explains Black. “Moreover, glass boasts a long lifespan and doesn’t need frequent replacement, making it a more sustainable medium. It requires significantly less energy to produce and is easy to recycle once it has served its purpose.”

The research team’s pioneering process starts with a femtosecond laser, which emits light pulses lasting just 100 billionths of a second. This technology etches tiny structures into a thin layer of glass to encode data. To minimize read and write errors, the researchers also incorporate additional bits into the data.

The data is read using a combination of microscope and camera systems, with images processed by a neural network algorithm that converts them back into bits. This entire process is easily reproducible and automated, making it a perfect example of a robotic data facility.

Remarkably, researchers successfully stored 4.8 terabytes of data on a square glass piece measuring 120 millimeters wide and 2 millimeters thick. This is roughly one-third the volume of an iPhone, equivalent to about 37 iPhones’ storage capacity.

Accelerated aging experiments, including heating the glass in a furnace, suggest that the data may remain stable and readable for over 10,000 years at 290°C, even longer at room temperature. Additionally, the researchers tested borosilicate glass, which, while cheaper, only effectively stored less complex data.

Kazansky highlighted Project Silica’s main breakthrough: delivering an end-to-end system scalable to data center size. Although the principles of glass-based data storage have existed for over a decade, this study confirms its feasibility as a technology.

Microsoft isn’t alone in exploring this groundbreaking technology. Kazansky also co-founded S Photonics, focused on preserving the human genome in glass. The Austrian startup Serabite proposes similar storage techniques using ultrathin layers of ceramic and glass.

Nonetheless, challenges persist, such as the cost of integrating the glass library into existing data centers and whether the Project Silica team can enhance glass capacity, potentially up to 360 terabytes as per Kazansky’s findings.

For now, Black identifies the primary potential applications for Project Silica’s technology in national libraries, scientific repositories, cultural records, and anywhere data needs to survive for centuries. Collaborations with companies like Warner Bros. and Global Music Vault are underway to safeguard data currently stored in the cloud for the long term.

Kazansky adds that this technology has even inspired cinematic portrayals. In Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, a protagonist discovers the capacity and security necessary to trap an advanced artificial intelligence. “It’s a rare moment when Hollywood science fiction aligns with peer-reviewed reality,” he remarks.