Sources say: Apple to add 12 petabytes of storage for iTunes

How big is iTunes? According to an industry newsletter, Apple will add as much as 12 petabytes for video storage. A drop in the bucket.

The Wednesday story on Storage Newsletter said that the capacity will come from Isilon Systems, an EMC company.

It's probably the largest of its 1,500 customers recorded at the end of December, including 20 percent in Europe.

How much is this capacity? About 159.6 years of HD movies playing 24/7. A whole lota of drives. And remember that this will be redundant storage. While 12PB sounds like a lot of storage, my guess is that this is just the tip of the iTunes storage iceberg.