How cool would it be if all our data is stored inside a DNA instead of tapes and drives? Imagine the amount of data that can be stored when you use DNA for storage instead of tapes and other relatively bulkier forms of storage.

Well, that will soon be a reality, going by what Microsoft is planning. Computer architects and researchers in this company are formalizing the goal of having a DNA system for storage inside large data centers by the end of this decade. They are working towards having a working prototype for using DNA to store the ever-growing volume of data.

Researchers primarily want to use the DNA to replace tape drives that are currently used for archiving information. The obvious advantage with this form of storage is the space and money savings that’ll accrue to a company. When you store in a DNA, you can store tons of data when compared to tapes because a DNA is only a miniscule size when compared to tapes.

Also, the cost per square foot of storage goes down because you can store petabytes of data in a small space and this is another added advantage that companies can get.

Already, there’s much buzz surrounding the announcement made by Microsoft. Researchers, IT administrators and tech geeks are looking forward to how see how this idea will shape up in the next few years.

On one side, it also reflects the commitment of companies like Microsoft that are taking innovation to the next level. A wild and weird idea like saving valuable documents, photos, videos and more in a small molecules that are genes are made of, is gaining traction. In fact, the company has allocated money and resources to further this abstract and wild idea in the hope that something would come out of it in the future.

That’s the spirit of innovation and this spirit is what takes companies and ideas to new heights. In fact, history is filled with the successful implementation of such ideas. When a couple of PH.D students, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, were working on a search engine, little would they have thought that today Google would become such a large corporation. The same goes for Bill Gates and millions of other entrepreneurs and scientists who have changed the way we live and communicate.

Considering these past examples, we can’t dismiss Microsoft’s idea as absurd or impractical. For all you know, it could be on the threshold of a great discovery that can set it apart from other companies in the tech world.

Right now, the efforts to shrink memory size are reaching physical limits. There’s only so much you can go in terms of size, so the next option would be to look for something that is already small and is capable of taking data. What better than the DNA as it fits the description well, both in terms of size and in terms of storage capacity.

Exciting days are surely ahead for mankind.

The post Microsoft Wants to Add DNA Storage appeared first on Cloud News Daily.