IBM tackles big data hurdle

PC World.

The amount of data that enterprises have to deal with is growing so fast that they are coming up against power and space limits and grappling with how to manage the information, according to analysts.

IBM highlighted two futuristic technologies that researchers are exploring to address separate challenges: how to make primary data available faster and how to pack archived information into a smaller space, reveals CIO.

For the former, the company is developing so-called 'racetrack' storage, in which data is stored in different magnetic regions that travel over short, nano-scale wires when accessed.

It may come on sale in five to seven years, according to Bruce Hillsberg, IBM's director of storage systems research. For the latter, researchers are using an unspecified magnetic technology that could store a petabyte of data in a standard 1U rack unit. Hillsberg says this could be introduced in three years time.

According to a survey of 255 IT professionals that polling agency Zogby International interviewed on behalf of IBM, around 43% admit that they are concerned about managing big data, states ZDnet.

Around 48% plan to increase storage investments in virtualisation, 26% plan to increase investments in the cloud, and 24% plan to increase investments in flash memory and solid-state technology.