Backup Technology And Its History

Computer data backup is an ever-changing and sophisticated field, especially as technologies become more complex. This complexity is due to two factors; first the cost/performance versus size of various memory-storage systems and second, the way users organize and use data.

Today's computing systems consist of four hardware components; the central processing unit (CPU), the main memory, the secondary storage (discs, tapes, CD's) and the input-output devices that interface with humans.


Looking back through time we can see how secondary storage devices and backing up the computer have evolved.

The first generation of backup was in 1951 with the punch card. By the 1960s the punch card gradually became replaced with something more capable and efficient – magnetic tape. One roll of magnetic tape could store as much as 10,000 punch cards. Tape backups were the most widespread backup source because of the tape drive's reliability, scalability and low cost.

In 1956 IBM introduced the first hard drive. The hard disk consisted of a stack of disk platters, each one made of an aluminum alloy or glass substrate coated with a magnetic material and protective layers. Read-write heads on both sides of each platter recorded and retrieved data from tracks on the magnetic medium. But these hard drives were not suitable in the 60s and 70s for backups because of their high price. Then, by 1983 the size and price of the hard disk drive was reduced and later became a standard component for most personal computers.

Meanwhile, in early 1970s the first floppy disk was introduced as a read-only device. These early disk drives were used to hold microcode and diagnostics for large IBM mainframe computer systems. The disks were 8-inch floppy diskettes recorded only on one side. In 1973 the new upgraded 8-inch drive had read/write capability with about 250 kilobytes of capacity. The floppy drive began to shrink in size as it went from 8 inches to 5.25 in 1976. The original 5.25-inch floppy drives were available only as single-sided low-density format and stored less than 100 kilobytes. They later evolved into double-sided and held 1.2 megabytes. In 1980 the 3.5-inch floppy replaced the 5.25-inch drive. Sony introduced the new smaller floppy disc and because of its affordability, the disc became an industry standard.

Though the floppy disc became popular, it too quickly became limited, as people needed more storage space for their emails, photographs and data. The CD-Recordable (CD-R) and CD-Rewritable (CD-RW) drive invented by Philips and Sony in 1979 started to become popular. Although the drives existed since 1979, it wasn't until their price dropped and the need grew that the CD's replaced the floppy disc.

In 1998 the USB storage flash drive was invented. Although the device was new, it grew in popularity quickly because of its size and ability to hold as much data and even more than the CD-ROM.

What is the next storage medium? Blu-laser discs using organic dyes are formatted to hold between 23 GB and 54 GB. While current optical disc technologies such as DVD, DVD±R, DVD±RW, and DVD-RAM rely on a red laser to read and write data, the new format uses a blue-violet laser instead, hence the name Blu-ray.

Will such new devices be able to keep up with today's technology and needs? Only time will tell.

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