Microsoft Advances 'Eternal' Data Storage with Breakthrough Glass Technology

Microsoft's Project Silica has reached a major milestone in its quest for eternal data storage. According to reports in the journal Nature as of February 2026, the tech giant is developing glass-based media designed to last 10,000 years. This innovation addresses the fragility of traditional magnetic storage, which typically degrades within a decade and requires energy-intensive cooling systems to maintain integrity.

A pivotal breakthrough in the project involves a shift in materials. Researchers have moved away from expensive quartz glass, also known as fused silica, which is produced by only a handful of suppliers. Instead, they are now utilizing borosilicate glass—the same durable material found in laboratory equipment and common kitchenware. This transition significantly lowers the barrier to commercialization by leveraging a material that is already mass-produced and widely available.

The storage density of this new medium is remarkable. On a single borosilicate glass plate measuring just 120 mm by 120 mm with a thickness of 2 mm, the team successfully stored up to 4.8 terabytes of data. To put this into perspective, a single small square of glass can hold the equivalent of approximately two million printed books, offering a compact solution for the world's growing data archives.

Accessing the stored information involves sophisticated optical techniques. The system uses polarization-sensitive microscopy under standard light conditions to read the data, while advanced artificial intelligence algorithms decode the resulting optical patterns. Furthermore, the hardware has been streamlined; the number of cameras required for the reading process has been reduced from four in earlier prototypes to just one, making the system smaller and more cost-effective.

With the fundamental research phase now complete, Microsoft is inviting other organizations to help transform this technology into a viable commercial product. While the glass storage offers unparalleled longevity, its write speeds currently lag behind modern tape drives like the LTO-10, which reaches 400 MB/s. Consequently, Project Silica is currently positioned as a specialized archive solution for data that is rarely accessed but must be preserved indefinitely.

The roadmap for this technology is becoming clearer. Specialized pilot deployments are expected between 2025 and 2027, with full commercial availability for enterprise archiving projected for the 2027–2030 window. By eliminating the need for periodic data migration and reducing power consumption, this glass-based storage promises a significant reduction in the total cost of ownership for long-term data preservation.