IBM is said to be working on a revolutionary new memory that will be about 100,000 times faster than your present day hard drive. This new memory device will be available in about five to seven years before it hits the market. The new technology is called Racetrack memory which is a new shock proof system that will allow the fastest data read and write speeds while also being almost 300 times more energy-efficient.
The Racetrack memory is built on the VHS videotape principles but deploys cutting edge nanotechnology. Work started a couple of years back when Stuart Parkin of IBM’s Almaden Research Center introduced a concept of spintroncs-based memory which has no moving parts but instead moves information. Similar to a VHS tape, Racetrack Memory would store data magnetically on tiny unmoving nickel-iron nanowires. The bits of information, which are stored in the wire using the spin of electrons rather than an electronic charge, would be moved around at several hundred meters per second, using a spin polarized current.
Computers equipped with Racetrack Memory would boot up instantly and they could also access information 100,000 times more rapidly than a traditional HDD. Additionally as there are no moving parts, unlike flash SSDs, it can be rewritten endlessly. IBM is still working on the technology and it would be a good five years before we could see samples to come out and about another two years before it hits the market.
Every person wastes a good three minutes of their lives waiting for computers to boot up!