Something You Need To Know About 3D XPoint Technology

Description Of 3D XPoint

Though Intel and Micron Technology jointly developed the 3D XPoint technology, they are working and selling products that utilize this technology separately.

The two vendors describe that this new technology bridges the storage market gap between dynamic NAND flash and RAM (DRAM).

As a non-volatile memory, 3D XPoint enjoys many features that distinguish it from other currently available NVRAM and RAM.

Development Of 3D XPoint

• Around 2012, the development of 3D XPoint technology began. Intel and Micron Technology developed 3D XPoint after they developed another non-volatile PCM (phase-change memory).
• 3D XPoint uses electrical resistance and is a bit addressable. Though the similarities with the resistive random-access memory being developed by Crossbar Inc. have been noted, 3D XPoint technology uses different storage physics.
• As of April 2016, no other supplier had developed a phase-change memory technology or working resistive RAM that sampled and matched the performance and durability of 3D XPoint, according to media reports.

Main Features of 3D XPoint

3D XPoint technology provides game-changing performance for large data applications and transaction workloads because latency is 1,000 times lower than NAND, and durability is exponentially high.

Also, 3D memory can achieve high-speed, large-capacity data storage next to the processor, which brings new possibilities for system architects is exposed to brand-new applications. The initial price of 3D XPoint is cheaper than dynamic random-access memory, but it is more expensive than flash memory.

Besides, 3D memory enables high-capacity data storage, high-speed next to the processor, offering system architects new possibilities in new applications.

The initial price of a 3D XPoint is expensive than flash memory but cheaper than dynamic random access to memory.

Although the first generation of 3D XPoint SSDs is not very large or fast so that not so outstanding, the late 3D XPoint SSDs are so fast that they are even considered fast SSDs. And the newer 3D XPoint SSD has a small write delay.

Because memory itself is fast, there is no need for read-modify-write and cache skills to improve traditional SSD performance.

Besides, built-in chipsets that support 3D XPoint, such as Cascade Lake, allow X-point memory to be used as a cache or accelerated disk. This memory is also fast enough to be used as a non-volatile RAM in the DIMM package.

To Sum Up!

This article shows you some necessary information about 3D XPoint technology, including its definition and description, development, and primary features. Thus, you might have a general understanding of 3D XPoint technology.