A company by the name of “DataSlide” had released a prototype storage device that they claim may one day replace SSD and traditional HDD. It’s apparently capable of acheiving 160,000 IOPS (Input/output operates per second) and 500MB/sec performance levels all while consuming no more then 4 watts of power.

This all sounds well and great until you hear how it manages this level of performance. The device uses a Piezo electric actuator to keep the media in a precise motion, and a diamond solid lubricant protecting the surfaces (Which are in direct contact to each other) It then utilizes a massive 2D array of heads (Up to 64) to perform read/write operations.

It will remain to be seen how this technology develops, but from my experience I have enough problems with magnetic media that is utilizing only 1-8 heads right now; I can’t imagine how a device that uses 64 heads could be reliable.