Attack of the Terabytes!

I was watching a commercial for a new cell phone. The announcer casually mentioned that it had 4 Terabytes* of storage!

Then, today, in a workshop for Office 365 Administrators the speaker advised us that One Drive (which is included in the package) still includes 5 terabytes per person enrolled in your system.

As a solopreneur, that means I have 9 terabytes of storage at my fingertips.

We’ve come a long way, Bunkie.

My first real computer (a Kaypro running a CPM operating system) didn’t have enough on-board memory to hold programs and data. It had to swap data back and forth to do anything. Those 5.25 inch floppy disk drives were noisy!

I stepped up to a PC and wonder of wonders you could store files on the machine but it was still a good idea to have plenty of the new compact 3.5 inch floppies with their colorful plastic shells on hand. That was your assurance that your data files were safe.

Over the years I’ve watched the technology change from recording on magnetic media to ever smaller hard drives and now to flash drives. The capacity just keeps going up.

Progress by the numbers

Way back when you could put 180 KB on a single sided compact floppy disk. The double density version got you to 360 KB.

It wasn’t until 2002 that the space barrier was breached by a 137 GB hard drive.

· 2007 – First 1 terabyte] hard drive] (Hitachi GST)

· 2008 – First 1.5 terabyte hard drive (Seagate)

· 2009 – First 2.0 terabyte hard drive (Western Digital)

· 2010 – First 3.0 terabyte hard drive (Seagate, Western Digital)

Storage capacity of USB flash drives in 2013 was up to 1 TB while hard disk capacity can be as large as 10 TB.

It all adds up---to frustration

So how do you figure out how to store all that data so that you can find it when you want it? No longer can you let files “just happen.” As I learned in that workshop the security requirements can get in the way of getting the information you need either from your own files or from someone just trying to give you what you asked for.

I spend three hours this morning trying to reset a password when the security requirements, in part, were based on an old address, phone number and e-mail address. I was lucky. My former e-mail address was still working. But now I’m having all my security stuff changed so I can get in and out at will without resorting to an overlooked address.

Moore’s Law seems to be alive and well.

And so it goes.

* The terabyte is a multiple of the unit byte. The prefix tera represents the fourth power of 1000, and means 1012 in the International System of Units (SI), and therefore one terabyte is one trillion bytes. The unit symbol for the terabyte is TB.

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His consulting practice, founded in 1990, is known for Trust-based Brand development, Positioning and business development for independent professionals on and off-line.

Consulting: www.JerryFletcher.com
Speaking: www.NetworkingNinja.com

DIY Training: www.ingomu.com