Intel Moves Data Closer to CPU With Xpoint SSD

Intel Corp. has begun shipping new storage drives based on its 3-D XPoint non-volatile memory technology as it targets data-driven workloads.

Intel’s new Optane solid-state drives, designated P4800X, seek to combine the attributes of memory and storage in the same device. The result is a new “data storage tier” intended to overcome growing storage bottlenecks in datacenters by moving stored data closer to computing.

Intel said its new SSD based on Xpoint (pronounced “cross point”) memory technology would help speed applications for faster caching and storage while allowing datacenter operators to deploy larger datasets analyzed using large memory pools.

Intel argues that current storage approaches based on DRAM and NAND are contributing to the current datacenter storage gap, and that storage platform increasingly need to behave “like system memory.” DRAM is too expensive to scale while NAND can scale but falls short in terms of datacenter performance.

Read the full story at sister web site Enterprisetech.com.