UK project goes small to tackle big data problem

The data centres that currently house the vast bulk of the world’s digital information account for around 1.5 per cent of the world’s annual electricity usage. In the next three years, the total amount of data in the world – sometimes referred to as the global datasphere - is predicted to increase by 300 per cent. Maintaining the existing data centre model is not compatible with a sustainable future as the datasphere continues to expand rapidly.

The new project will tackle the problem by developing chemistry-based technology that can create regular patterns and channels at a truly tiny scale. According to the researchers, the new surfaces will be around 10,000 times smaller than a human hair, with channels less than five nanometres in width.

Dr Matt Derry, lecturer in chemistry within Aston University’s College of Engineering and Physical Sciences, is leading the project in collaboration with Specialist Computer Centres (SCC), the science facility Diamond Light Source and Babeș-Bolyai University, Romania. 

“Simply building new data centres without improving data storage technologies is not a viable solution,” said Dr Derry. “Increasingly we face the risk of a so-called data storage crunch and improved data storage solutions are imperative to keep up with the demands of the modern world.”