Bright Side of 2011: Take Two

Hybrid and cloud storage takes over

In 2011, you will be checking out a wide variety of modern storage options to replace your local hard drive. Think cloud storage akin to Dropbox, SSDs, Flash-based gizmos - you name it, hybrid storage is the name of the game in 2011.

Despite a major increase in malware and cybercrime in the coming year, expect cloud storage to become a major storage solution for home and business.

Cloud storage will grow because folks will increasingly use smartphones, tablets and netbooks as their primary communications and entertainment devices.

These devices are already built in a way that primarily relies on minimalistic flash memory or solid-state drives, typically between 32GB and 64GB capacities.

However, hard drives will remain the prime storage medium in corporate world and cloud storage farms. Also, expect hard drive to continue dominating small-to-medium business and home applications throughout 2011.

The new MacBook Air is the first consumer notebook built entirely around Flash chips and ditching the hard drive entirely. Apple says this is how all notebooks will be made soon.

It is important to note that by the end of 2011 more than 45 percent of the hard drives sold will be hybrid units, meaning flash front–end to mass storage device. By the end of 2012 more than 60 percent of the units will be hybrid.

By mid–2011 4TB external hard drives will hit the market at very aggressive price points. Base storage for mobile computers will increase to half a gigabyte and power users will certainly opt for 1TB drives. Home servers will predominantly use 2–4TB units.