New Announcements Foreshadow Fundamental Changes in Server and Storage Architectures
My colleague Henry Baltazar and I have been watching the development of new systems and storage technology for years now, and each of us has been trumpeting in our own way the future potential of new non-volatile memory technology (NVM) to not only provide a major leap for current flash-based storage technology but to trigger a major transformation in how servers and storage are architected and deployed and eventually in how software looks at persistent versus nonpersistent storage.
All well and good, but up until very recently we were limited to vague prognostications about which flavor of NVM would finally belly up to the bar for mass production, and how the resultant systems could be architected. In the last 30 days, two major technology developments, Intel’s further disclosure of its future joint-venture NVM technology, now known as 3D XPoint™ Technology, and Diablo Technologies introduction of Memory1, have allowed us to sharpen the focus on the potential outcomes and routes to market for this next wave of infrastructure transformation.
Intel/Micron Technology 3D XPoint™ Technology
Still short of a product announcement, this was more of a (partial) clarification of Intel’s next generation NVM plans, which they have coyly hinted at with no detail for about a year. This announcement, while still not really specifying exact product shipping dates, pricing, delivered density or even exactly what kind of device it is (although the collective betting is that it is a variant of phase change memory, into which Intel has reportedly invested a lot of money), at least gave us some significant hints:
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