DATA CRYSTAL

class: Data Storage Crystal type: Holographic length: 3.2 centimeters [average] mass: 30 grams [?] power: N/A duration 500 years security holographic encryption

Data Crystals are the primary data storage unit in use on the galactic market and are used in the construction of all major computer systems.  Data Crystals are produced in zero gravity environments and operate by bending and refracting light that is channeled through the crystal using a complex series of lasers.

This system produces a complex holographic data pattern that bends and distorts light to reproduce images and information in mathematical form.  These light patterns are then accessed and de-coded by a holographic computer system.  Information is stored in these Data Crystals by actually altering the physical form of the crystal on a molecular level.

Despite their fragile appearance, Data Crystals are stronger than diamonds and have a heat dispersion capacity that allows them to operate in almost any temperature or enviroment, with a data storage capacity of over 500,000 terabytes and a data transfer rate of 50 gigabytes per millisecond.  It is for these reasons that most systems use crystaline/holographic data retrieval systems.