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Storage Class Memories Are Needed Now

Posted on: Tuesday, 2 June 2009, 14:02 CDT

Storage Class Memories will be the most efficient technology to relieve I/O bottlenecks

MONTEREY and SUNNYVALE, Calif., June 2 /PRNewswire/ -- In today's data centers, many server's processors are underutilized resulting from I/O bottlenecks between main memory and disk. To overcome this issue the industry is looking for faster storage and more efficient memory architectures. To date, the most practical solution has been to use NAND in the form of cache and SSDs, which has resulted in varying degrees of improved performance, but at a high cost and complexity.

From its inception, NAND was developed for consumer applications, where the component is optimized for low cost and high capacity. As the consumer NAND migrates down the litho shrink, adds multi-levels and 3D characteristics all to reduce cost and to increase capacity, the other parameters of endurance, performance, and reliability are further degrading. Now as the industry tries to use 'consumer-grade' NAND for enterprise computing, the increasing complexity of the controllers to reliably manage the NAND and add some performance will cost more in terms of software and firmware development. Even with this added software, firmware and controller support, the NAND architecture is still plagued with high read latency and minimal endurance.

Currently, the industry is thirsting for an optimized memory like Storage Class Memories (SCM) that are low latency memories positioned between DRAM and Hard Disk Drives. SCM blends the characteristics of high performance memory (RAM) and non volatile, high capacity and low cost storage of Hard Disk Drives. In the long term, a single SCM component can balance the system's needs by storing a large amount of data in its memory and reducing the latency of quickly transferring it to the CPU or writing it back to the Hard Disk Drives. Near term, SCM configurations are split between low latency memories and high latency, low cost storage components. While, NAND Flash memory can provide some of the features of SCM, it is still limited in providing fast small file random reads with enough endurance.

SCM are needed now, but they will still need further definition and optimization to provide the system acceleration that tiered storage requires now and for the future. These issues with SCM and their likely candidates are being examined at the 2009 NVM Conference 'Beyond Flash - Defining Storage Class Memories' put on by Web-Feet Research and Denali Software. The 2009 NVM Conference will be held during Denali's MemCon event on Wednesday, June 24th at the Santa Clara Hyatt. In depth sessions at the NVM Conference will cover an overview on the macroeconomic impact on the Flash and NVM markets, Flash application forecasts out to 2013, technology discussions on Flash and SCM along with their controllers and the SSD market adopters and there will be two panel discussions. The first is on the memory components for Storage Class Memories (SCM) either RAM-based or cross point storage-based components and what applications they can serve. The second panel is on 'Emerging Architectures for SSDs' that shows new ways SSDs can be developed and architectured within the new storage hierarchy that uses SCM or further enhancements on NAND Flash.

About Denali MemCon

Denali MemCon 09 is the largest conference and exhibition addressing business, market applications, device technology, and standards for memory and storage. This year, the Denali MemCon 09 event, "Beacons of Innovation," brings together industry leaders and key decision makers in consumer electronics, storage and systems, semiconductors, software designers, technologists, OEMs, and users to explore the latest in memory and storage technologies, mobile and enterprise storage and much more. Attendees will learn which powerful new products, innovations, implementations, and technologies will navigate successfully through the challenges in today's marketplace. Register now for this free to attend event! www.memcon.com/register

About Web-Feet Research

Headquartered in Monterey, California, Web-Feet Research provides business consulting and market research services in the memory and storage markets, with a focus on nonvolatile memory and solid state storage technologies and small form factor hard disk drives. For further information, please contact:

Alan Niebel Web-Feet Research, Inc w3.web-feetresearch.com alan.niebel@web-feetresearch.com Tel: 831.373.1985 Fax: 831.648.8279

SOURCE Web-Feet Research

Source: PR Newswire

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