Intel’s Silicon Photonics…the storage interface of the future?

Imagine an interface that moves data at 50Gbps… Intel has developed a prototype.  It’s called Silicon Photonics and 50Gbps is just the beginning.

The jist of the technology is the use of light beams in place of electronic signals (fiber optical in place of copper cable) as an interface between components, systems, servers, you name it.  The possibilities are endless for this technology in terms of computing power, and content delivery. According to Intel, at 50Gbps…

• You can download a HD movie in less than a second
• You can imagine a wall-sized 3D display for home entertainment
• You can video conference with a resolution so high that the actors or family members appear to be in the room with you
• Data centers may see components spread throughout a building or even an entire campus

What if such technology was embedded into hard drives? Considering drive interfaces operate at 3 to 6Gbps,  at 50Gbps, that’s theoretically anywhere from 8 to 16 times faster throughput. I wonder if this technology could be deployed at the core drive level to improve latency in the disk itself.  Now we are talking real advantages to performance in terms of backup, content downloads, content creation, content sharing…quite frankly everything. It’s always fun to ponder the “what if’s” of new technology.

What would you do with 50Gbps?

Image by Intel