data storage this article is about all forms of data storage for data storage on computers in particular see computer data storage rna is an ancient storage medium various electronic storage devices edison cylinder phonograph c 1899 the phonograph cylinder is a storage medium the phonograph may be considered a storage device on a reeltoreel tape recorder sony tc630 the recorder is data storage equipment and the magnetic tape is a data storage medium data storage is the recording storing of information data in a storage medium dna and rna handwriting phonographic recording magnetic tape and optical discs are all examples of storage media recording is accomplished by virtually any form of energy electronic data storage requires electrical power to store and retrieve data data storage in a digital machinereadable medium is sometimes called digital data computer data storage is one of the core functions of a general purpose computer electronic documents can be stored in much less space than paper documents barcodes and magnetic ink character recognition micr are two ways of recording machinereadable data on paper recording media a recording medium is a physical material that holds information newly created information is distributed and can be stored in four storage mediaprint film magnetic and opticaland seen or heard in four information flowstelephone radio and tv and the internet as well as being observed directly digital information is stored on electronic media in many different recording formats with electronic media the data and the recording media are sometimes referred to as software despite the more common use of the word to describe computer software with traditional art static media art materials such as crayons may be considered both equipment and medium as the wax charcoal or chalk material from the equipment becomes part of the surface of the medium some recording media may be temporary either by design or by nature volatile organic compounds may be used to preserve the environment or to purposely make data expire over time data such as smoke signals or skywriting are temporary by nature depending on the volatility a gas eg atmosphere smoke or a liquid surface such as a lake would be considered a temporary recording medium if at all global capacity digitization and trends a 2003 uc berkeley report estimated that about five exabytes of new information were produced in 2002 and that 92 of this data was stored on hard disk drives this was about twice the data produced in 2000 the amount of data transmitted over telecommunication systems in 2002 was nearly 18 exabytesthree and a half times more than was recorded on nonvolatile storage telephone calls constituted 98 of the telecommunicated information in 2002 the researchers highest estimate for the growth rate of newly stored information uncompressed was more than 30 per year it has been estimated in a more limited study the international data corporation estimated that the total amount of digital data in 2007 was 281 exabytes and that the total amount of digital data produced exceeded the global storage capacity for the first time a study published in 2011 estimated that the worlds technological capacity to store information in analog and digital devices grew from less than three optimally compressed exabytes in 1986 to 295 optimally compressed exabytes in 2007 archival science blank media tax computer data storage content format data transmission digital preservation digital revolution disk drive performance characteristics external storage format war flipflop electronics information age iops library media communication media controls medium format film memristor nanodot nonlinear medium random access plantbased digital data storage recording format semiconductor memory telecommunication volatile memory bennett john c 1997 jiscnpo studies on the preservation of electronic materials a framework of data types and formats and issues affecting the long term preservation of digital material british library research and innovation report 50 history of computer storage from 1928 to 2013 history of computer data storage history of storage from cave paintings to electrons the evolution of data storage vtemagnetic storage media wire 1898 tape 1928 drum 1932 ferrite core 1949 hard disk 1956 stripe card 1956 micr 1956 thin film 1962 cram 1962 twistor 1968 floppy disk 1969 bubble 1970 mram 1995 racetrack 2008 vteoptical storage mediabluray 2003 bdr 2006 bdre 2006 bdr xl 2010 bdre xl 2010 dvd 1995 dvdr 1997 dvdrw 1999 dvdrw 2001 dvdr 2002 dvdr dl 2004 dvdr dl 2005 compact disc 1982 cdr 1988 cdrw 1997 discontinued microform 1870 optical tape 20th century optical disc 20th century laserdisc 1978 worm 1979 dataplay 2002 udo 2003 prodata 2003 umd 2004 hd dvd 2006 magnetooptic kerr effect 1877 mo disc 1980s minidisc 1992 himd 2004 optical assist laser turntable 1986 floptical 1991 super dlt 1998 vtepaper data storage mediaantiquity writing on papyrus c 3000 bce paper 105 ce modern index card 1640s punched tape mid1800s punched card 1880s edgenotched card 1904 optical mark recognition 1930s barcode 1948 optical character recognition 1950s vteprimary computer data storage technologiesvolatile memorycurrent dram eg ddr sdram sram future zram historical delay line memory selectron tube williams tube nonvolatile memorycurrent earom eeprom eprom flash memory prom rom future 3d xpoint feram mram nram pram rram sonos historical bubble memory drum memory magneticcore memory twistor memory vtewritingsemipermanent writing materialplant based palmleaf manuscript borassus spp ola leaf manuscript c umbraculifera birch bark manuscript papyrus paper wax tablet wood amate trema micrantha ficus aurea parabaik s asper bamboo and wooden slips other clay tablet metals stamping metalworking intaglio printmaking stone inscription animal skin samut khoi kraing paper usu mulberry bark metals other oracle bone silk eink textile printing geoglyph ink photographic film inherently impermanent material electronic visual display skywriting sand writing blood writing types manuscript inscription book sign electronic storage codex basrelief highrelief misc writing systems vtememory cardsmain articles memory card reader comparison of memory cards sd card and multimediacard family comparison types compactflash cf cfast cfexpress express card jeida multimediacard mmc memory stick ms mspro mspro hg msxc micard microdrive md minicard p2 microp2 pc card pcmcia cardbus cardbay secure digital sdsc sdhc sdxc smartmedia sm sxs universal flash storage ufs usb xdpicture xqd authority control gnd 43514649 