Today, most people have SSDs and use cloud storage to keep their data connected on all devices. However, do you ever wonder how we came to possess such sophisticated technology? In order to understand how we got to the era of SSD and cloud, we must take a step back and remember all the solutions we used before. With that in mind, here’s a brief story of data storage evolution from early commodore to cloud-based storage.

1. The earliest storage solutions

The evolution of storage has been incredibly long, and it has had to start somewhere. Today, we have access to cloud-based storage and RAID storage, along with additional tools like a RAID calculator to help you configure your storage setup, but it hasn’t always been this way.

It all started with punch cards, which were invented in the early 19th century and were used to control machinery and store data in physical form. This was an incredibly rudimentary form of fate storage that you might have seen before. It’s a card with holes, and the machine can read the presence and absence of holes to get some meaning from it.

The next big step came much later, in the 1950s, when magnetic tape was invented. This was probably one of the first purely digital storage mediums, and it allowed for the storage of an unprecedented amount of data to that point.

Then comes the era of floppy disks. Gen Zers know this as an object that inspired the “Save” icon, but if you’re a tad older, chances are that you’ve seen one around somewhere. While they did originate in the 1970s, they weren’t popularized until the 1980s and 1990s. That’s when they became a huge part of popular culture.

2. Home computers and personal data storage

The first major breakthrough in the field of home computer storage came when Apple II launched in 1977. This was one of the first successfully produced micro-computers and made a huge leap forward when it came to the adoption of personal computers. It had a 5.25-inch floppy disk for data storage.

Then came the Commodore 64, which was released in 1982 and represented a milestone in home computers. Now, the history of Commodore disc drives is really long, but, at the time, the use of cassette tapes and floppy disks for data storage was really revolutionary.

Another innovative take by 64s contemporary, the IBM PC, used both floppy disks and hard drives for data storage. One advantage of this device is that it had an open architecture, which allowed third-party manufacturers to create compatible hardware and software for it. This is what led to its widespread adoption.

As you can see, in the early days, there was really not that big of a difference between internal and external data storage. Discs were discs, and these devices used the biggest they had. Soon, however, this was to change forever.

3. Advancements in data storage technologies

Now, we enter the era of HDDs, which is probably the first thing that crossed your mind when we mentioned digital storage. A hard disk drive was first introduced in the 1950s, but it wasn’t widely adopted until the 1980s. The technology was still new, and the majority of personal computers in use weren’t optimized for it.

The next massive leap in storage technology came with the invention of CDs (Compact Discs). One interesting thing about them is that they were initially used to store audio files, but they soon became popular for storage in general.

Now, a generation that sees CDs as a relic of the past may find it hard to understand just how massive a storage revolution this was. It could hold up to 700 MB of data, which was several hundred times more than floppy discs (its immediate predecessors). They were also quite durable.

DVDs were the next step in the evolution of CDs. These versatile digital discs used multiple layers of storage, which allowed them to keep up to 4.7 GB of data. It was a huge improvement over CD and it soon became a standard for software distribution.

4. Portable storage devices

The early 2000s brought a completely new concept to our attention. Namely, we’ve already figured out the issue with the storage size; now, we had to figure out how to make storage more portable.

The solution first came in the form of USB flash drives. These were revolutionary but initially, they were quite expensive and didn’t have an impressive storage capacity. Today, you can find a 128 GB USB drive dirt-cheap. This is enough to keep so many files, videos, photos, and more.

Then, there were external hard drives. These were large storage units that were connected to computers via USB. This means that you didn’t have to open the casing in order to connect it to a device, you could just keep all the storage there without problems.

Lastly, memory cards were even used for this purpose. However, most personal computers didn’t contain readers for these storage drives, which means that you had to get external readers. This peripheral equipment, however, was quite inexpensive.

5. Solid State Drive

Now, we arrive at the current state of affairs. First of all, you have introduced SSD as a superior replacement for the HDD (which a lot of people still have on their computers). This drive is faster, more reliable, and, overall, more efficient than its predecessors.

SSD has many advantages over its HDD counterpart. First of all, it faster reads and writes, which means that you get incredible responsiveness. Just booting the system the first time after switching from HDD to SSD will tell you all you need to know about this speed discrepancy. It’s also consuming less power and lasts a lot longer.

Now, one of the most important things to understand is that SSD is becoming a standard. A while back, SSDs were more expensive, and you had to spend substantially more to get the same drive size (in GB/TB) as that of an SSD. Today, this is no longer the case, which is why SSD adoption rates are through the roof.

6. Cloud-based storage

Lastly, we live in an era of cloud-based storage. The internet speed in some areas is so high that it’s literally quicker just to download a file than to look for the USB in a drawer. In other areas, it’s so fast that it’s literally quicker just to download a file than to look for it in your computer folders.

This is the simplest, most effective way to store data, thanks to the nature of modern collaborative, remote workspace. This is because you can share it and access it from multiple devices, which is a serious necessity in the modern business world.

Sure, there are still some challenges out there, like cybersecurity and the fact that you cannot access this without the internet; however, these challenges are less problematic in the real world than you think. In 2024, they mostly sound bad on paper.

Data storage evolution is always moving forward

Of course, this is not the end of our list; the list never ends. So many new trends, like quantum storage or DNA data storage, might reshape how we keep data in the future. So far, it’s impressive just to look back and see all the obstacles we had to overcome to get where we are now.