The future of data storage might be ceramic glass that can last thousands of years

Forward-looking: As the world faces a data tsunami, with most information destined for long-term storage, one technology could offer a sustainable, low-maintenance alternative. Whether Cerabyte can deliver on its promise of millennia-long durability and ultra-low costs remains to be seen. Still, its boiling and baking tests have already raised the bar in the race for the future of data storage.

Cerabyte recently conducted an experiment that seemed more like a culinary exercise than a technology showcase. The German storage startup plunged a sliver of its archival glass storage into a kettle of boiling salt water, then roasted it in a pizza oven.

Despite enduring temperatures of 100°C in the kettle and 250°C in the oven, the storage medium emerged unscathed, with its data fully intact. This experiment – along with a similar live demonstration at the Open Compute Project Summit in Dublin – was not just a spectacle. It was ...