Backblaze now storing 100 petabytes of data, announces Storage Pod 4.0
When it comes to storing large amounts of data inexpensively, Backblaze is a leader. The online backup company just announced that they're now storing 100 petabytes -- that's one hundred million gigabytes -- of data from both Mac and Windows users around the globe. To put the number in perspective, Backblaze CEO Gleb Budman published some fun figures on the company's blog.
That 100 petabytes is about a quarter of what Facebook stores for its over 1 billion customers, or equivalent to storing 33 billion songs -- that's all of the songs on iTunes, 1,270 times over. You could store 11,415 years of HD video for viewing 24/7. The 31,954 hard drives in the Backblaze data center stacked on end would reach 9,941 feet (over 3,000 meters) in height, almost as tall as California's Mt. Shasta measured from its base.
To be able to offer unlimited storage at an affordable rate, Backblaze created the Storage Pod, an open source project using off-the-shelf components to cram as much storage into a rack-mounted module as possible. The company today announced the fourth generation of the Storage Pod, bringing the cost of mass storage down to a piddling $0.051 per gigabyte.
Backblaze buys its components in bulk, so they can build a Storage Pod 4.0 for about US$9,305. If you try to make your own 180 TB Storage Pod 4.0, it's going to cost you about $10,587 plus the cost of your labor.
Backblaze VP of Engineering Tim Nufire recorded a video outlining the details of this speedy new Storage Pod, which we present in its entirety for your nerdly viewing pleasure. We're still waiting to hear from a TUAW reader who has built one of these in his or her basement...
