Large capacity probe recording using storage robots

The authors propose a concept in mass data storage system architecture, in which thousands of read/write heads, storage robots or StoBots move independently over a large, flat storage medium. This concept, which has not been previously proposed, offers new degrees of freedom in data storage systems design, which could lead to a superior performance over conventional systems such as hard disks and tape. The impact of different file system architectures on the access time and data-rate of the StoBot drive is investigated.