Machdyne’s FERRIT is a modular USB F-RAM storage device with a capacity of up to 256 MB and capable of storing data for up to 200 years with a virtually unlimited number of writes and high-radiation resistance.
It builds upon the earlier Blaustahl F-RAM storage device that only offers 8KB capacity. The FERRIT device supports 8 MB to 256 MB by combining up to 256 individual 1 MB F-RAM ICs. The prototype below is housed in a metal frame and looks like a typical cluster solution.
FERRIT specifications and key features:
- FERRIT-CY controller based on Raspberry Pi RP2040 MCU with USB-FS Type-C port
- FERRIT-M8 removable ferroelectric memory cards with up to 16MB capacity using 16x 1MB F-RAM ICs (double-sided: 2x 8 chips)
- FERRIT-16 backplane with slots for FERRIT-CY and 16x FERRIT-M8 connected over SPI/QSPI bus
- Max capacity – 256 MB+ through up to 256x memory devices (16 memory cards with 16 chips)
- Preserves data for up to 200 years, far beyond traditional storage media.
- Write cycles – Supports a virtually unlimited number of writes
- Radiation-Resistant – Maintains data integrity in high-radiation environments.
- Host interface – USB-C Type-C, the solution appears as a mass storage device; no special software is required
The German company says it’s ideal for critical documentation, historical records, cryptographic key storage, and archival collections. The project is also open-source, with the KiCad schematics, PCB layouts, C firmware, and documentation available on GitHub under a “Lone Dynamics Open License”, which basically says:
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Redistribution and use in source, binary or physical forms, with or without modification, is permitted provided that the following condition is met: Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer. |
The disclaimer is about responsibility: “use at your own risk”.
Machdyne told CNX Software that the current memory modules are single-sided with eight 1MB F-RAM chips, as shown in the photo at the top of this article. As a result, the total memory is limited to 128 MB in this setup, but with dual-sided modules, the total can be up to 256 MB. The company didn’t provide information about the F-RAM chip, but the schematics show they are using SOIC-16 parts (7.5 x 10.3 mm, 1.27mm pitch), and the only match I could find with 1MB capacity was the RAMXEED MB85RQ8MXPF (PDF datasheet) with high endurance of 1013 times at 105°C or 1014 times at 85°C and long data retention of up to 200 years at 35°C. However, it decreases as the temperature increases: 10 years @ 105°C and 95 years at 55°C.
When I wrote about the Blaustahl F-RAM device a few years ago, people noted that the Raspberry Pi RP2040 may not last 200 years, and USB might become legacy in 100+ years, and complained about the small 8KB capacity. The FERRIT doesn’t solve the first two, but with up to 256MB capacity, it solves the ultra-small capacity issue that made the Blaustahl mostly useful for storing (encrypted) text. Both still benefit from quasi-unlimited write cycles and very long storage life, but whether the 200-year target is achievable for the whole system is another question.
Interested organizations can reserve the FERRIT modular F-RAM storage solution, but instead of providing pricing information, Machdyne asks customers how much they’d be willing to pay, which is an interesting strategy. For reference, the MB85RQ8MXPF FeRAM chip sells for $25.03 per unit on Mouser for a 500-piece reel, so the memory for a complete system with 256 chips would cost about $6400. That’s for 256 MB of storage without the boards, chassis, and profit margin. More details and the reservation link can be found on the product page.
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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Obviously, the sky’s the limit, but you could start to store some serious amounts of information in just 16 MiB. Many full length novels worth of text, more with compression on top.
I think vertically oriented cards could break from the box being moved or shaken over the course of a century… more mechanical stress.
If I was designing this, I would have memory cards shaped more like a DRAM module, and less of them if necessary. Have a second, identical controller that simply provides another USB port in case the first one fails. Or otherwise include another USB port (ever had a laptop where one USB port fails but 1-3 others are fine?). Include wireless (like the Pico W) to allow it to be used as a NAS and have a non-physical option to access it.
It’s a tough sell, but the 8-16 MiB capacity of a single card is where it starts to become useful for me. I hope that this and other “universal memory” technologies improve.
Another USB port for redundancy? If valuable data should be stored then you need the data at least at two physically separated locations (far away from each other). On an encrypted filesystem that is self-repairing (checksums, more redundancy wrt storage paths/devices).
Good luck selling this ‘solution’ for which no real problem exists. Or I’m missing something substantial…
If the device is expected to last for as long as a century or two, then yeah, you want more redundancy. You want more redundancy. You want more redundancy.
> If the device is expected to last for as long as a century or two
I’m not talking about devices but valuable data. And for obvious reasons you use HW redundancy and smart software attempts to protect the data to be able to copy over this data to contemporary HW / filesystems every few years or every decade. And probably have to convert file formats along the way as well (BTDT recently).
The whole idea of accessing data on an USB equipped thingy in a century is… funny 🙂
Who wants to store crypto keys for 200 years? They need to be rotated like every month
the root keys? quite sure not. You need then maybe every 4 years for the intermediate