Ceramic-based startup wants to put more than 100,000TB in a 42U rack by 2030 but it will take almost 50 years to fill it up
Date:
Wed, 09 Jul 2025 21:46:00 +0000
Description:
Cerabyte aims to replace magnetic tape with laser-etched glass tablets, offering massive storage density and long lifespan, although performance and feasibility questions remain.
FULL STORY ======================================================================The first-generation system is slower than tape but aims to scale up rapidly by 2030 Cerabytes roadmap involves physics so advanced it sounds like sci-fi
with helium ion beams Long-term capacity hinges on speculative tech that doesnt yet exist outside lab settings
Munich-based startup Cerabyte is developing what it claims could become a disruptive alternative to magnetic tape in archival data storage.
Using femtosecond lasers to etch data onto ceramic layers within glass tablets, the company envisions racks holding more than 100 petabytes (100,000TB) of data by the end of the decade.
Yet despite these bold goals, practical constraints mean it may take decades before such capacity sees real-world usage. The journey to 100PB racks starts with slower, first-generation systems
CMO and co-founder Martin Kunze outlined the vision at the recent A3 Tech
Live event, noting the system draws on femtosecond laser etching of a ceramic recording layer on a glass tablet substrate.
These tablets are housed in cartridges and shuttled by robotic arms inside tape library-style cabinets, a familiar setup with an unconventional twist.
The pilot system, expected by 2026, aims to deliver 1 petabyte per rack with
a 90-second time to the first byte and just 100MBps in sustained bandwidth.
Over several refresh cycles, Cerabyte claims that performance will increase, and by 2029 or 2030, it anticipates a 100-plus PB archival storage rack with 2GBps bandwidth and sub-10-second time to first byte.
The companys long-term projections are even more ambitious, and it believes that femtosecond laser technology could evolve into a particle beam matrix tech capable of reducing bit size from 300nm to 3nm.
With helium ion beam writing by 2045, Cerabyte imagines a system holding up
to 100,000PB in a single rack.
However, such claims are steeped in speculative physics and should, as the report says, be marveled at but discounted as realizable technology for the time being.
Cerabytes stated advantages over competitors such as Microsofts Project Silica, Holomem, and DNA storage include greater media longevity, faster access times, and lower cost per terabyte.
Lasting more than 100 years compared to tapes 7 to 15 years, said Kunze, the solution is designed to handle long-term storage with lower environmental impact.
He also stated the technology could ship data at 12GBps versus tapes 1GBps, and cost $1 per TB against tapes $2 per TB.
So far, the company has secured around $10 million in seed capital and over
$4 million in grants.
It is now seeking A-round VC funding, with backers including Western Digital, Pure Storage, and In-Q-Tel.
Whether Cerabyte becomes a viable alternative to traditional archival storage methods or ends up as another theoretical advance depends not just on
density, but on long-term reliability and cost-effectiveness.
Even if it doesn't become a practical alternative to large HDDs by 2045, Cerabytes work may still influence the future of long-term data storage, just not on the timeline it projects.
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Link to news story:
https://www.techradar.com/pro/ceramic-based-startup-wants-to-put-more-than-100 -000tb-in-a-42u-rack-by-2030-but-it-will-take-almost-50-years-to-fill-it-up
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