Intel today announced the first SSDs based on its 3D XPoint technology that should be 1,000x faster than NAND and should become available in 2016. During the keynote of the Intel Developer Forum (IDF), currently held in San Francisco, the chip giant has revealed its Optane technology. Optane is a combination of the 3D XPoint memory and Intel technology including interface hardware, software and a system memory controller.
Intel Optane technology will first come to market in a new line of high-endurance, high-performance Intel SSDs beginning in 2016. According to the chip giant these Optane SSDs will be for both enterprise and consumer use. Intel has also announced the new class of memory technology will also power a new line of Intel DIMMs designed for the company's next-generation data center platforms.
During the keynote Intel also demonstrated some benchmarks. An IOMeter benchmark showed how Intel's high-end P3700 SSD was beaten by an Optane prototype. The company showed a benchmark in which the P3700 achieved 77,000 IOPS while the Optane drive achieved 401,000 IOPS 9 (5.2 times faster) when tested using a Queue Depth 8. With a Queue Depth of one, the P3700 scored 10,600 IOPS, while the Optane prototype scored 76,600 IOPS (7.2 times faster).
XPoint is a technology developed by Intel and Micron and promises to be 1,000x faster than NAND. The technology is different from NAND but also non volatile. 3D Xpoint is also 1,000 times more durant than NAND memory and 10x more dense than conventional memory. The technology appears to a variant on Phase Change Memory and has the potential to ultimately replace both a computer's volatile and nonvolatile memory.
