After weeks of nervous speculation, Intel (News - Alert) has shaken up the server market with the announcement that the cross point memory technology it has been working on with Micron Technology will be debuting in commercial products next year. The companies have been developing transistor-less 3D Xpoint non-volatile memory technology that could very well disrupt the entire server market as it makes an appearance in both enterprise and consumer class products, enabling a variety of exciting new application developments.
Intel made the announcement at its Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco this week, dubbing the new non-volatile memory Optane and announcing it will roll out a range of solid state drives (SSDs) with the technology next year. The companies have claimed Optane will be up to 1,000 times faster and with as much as 1,000 times greater endurance than NAND flash, and with the potential for 10 times the density of conventional memory.
What this amounts to is a massive change in the way server computing is usually handled, with the new 3D memory based on a transistor-less cross point architecture. This creates a three-dimensional checkerboard through which memory cells reside at the intersection of word and bit lines, enabling them to be addressed individually. Data may therefore be written and read in small sizes, dramatically speeding up read/write processes.
According to Intel, the new SSDs will be launched in a PCIe-compatible form factor geared toward ultrabook systems and servers as well as a DIMM form factor for Xeon systems with even greater capacities and lower latency. Intel says Optane drives will also include a specialized software stack and custom storage controllers along with the 3D Xpoint memory.
“For decades, the industry has searched for ways to reduce the lag time between the processor and data to allow much faster analysis,” said Rob Crooke, senior vice president and general manager of Intel’s Non-Volatile Memory Solutions Group, in announcing the new technology last month. “This new class of non-volatile memory achieves this goal and brings game-changing performance to memory and storage solutions.”
“One of the most significant hurdles in modern computing is the time it takes the processor to reach data on long-term storage,” added Mark Adams, president of Micron. “This new class of non-volatile memory is a revolutionary technology that allows for quick access to enormous data sets and enables entirely new applications.”
Edited by Rory J. Thompson