Analyzing Intel-Micron 3D XPoint: The Next Generation Non-Volatile Mem

[A Guy]

Analyzing Intel-Micron 3D XPoint: The Next Generation Non-Volatile Memory

The current mainstream memory technologies, namely DRAM (quick memory accessed by the processor) and NAND (solid-state storage), have been around for decades. While the cell designs have evolved over the years to allow scaling to 20nm and below, the fundamental physics behind DRAM and NAND operation haven't changed a bit and both technologies have their unique technological limitations. DRAM offers nanosecond-level latency and unlimited endurance, but this comes at the cost of large cell size, cell volatility, and power consumption. Since DRAM cells need to be constantly refreshed, the cells don't retain data in an off state, requiring quite a bit of power and making DRAM unsuitable for permanent storage. NAND, on the other hand, has much higher latency (especially write operations) and has a limited number of write cycles, but the cells are non-volatile and the structure is much more efficient, enabling low cost and suitability for storage.

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A Guy

 

[Stevekir]

Analyzing Intel-Micron 3D XPoint: The Next Generation Non-Volatile Memory

The current mainstream memory technologies, namely DRAM (quick memory accessed by the processor) and NAND (solid-state storage), have been around for decades. While the cell designs have evolved over the years to allow scaling to 20nm and below, the fundamental physics behind DRAM and NAND operation haven't changed a bit and both technologies have their unique technological limitations. DRAM offers nanosecond-level latency and unlimited endurance, but this comes at the cost of large cell size, cell volatility, and power consumption. Since DRAM cells need to be constantly refreshed, the cells don't retain data in an off state, requiring quite a bit of power and making DRAM unsuitable for permanent storage. NAND, on the other hand, has much higher latency (especially write operations) and has a limited number of write cycles, but the cells are non-volatile and the structure is much more efficient, enabling low cost and suitability for storage.

Source

A Guy

I have read several times that NAND has a limited number of write cycles, and assume that one day my C: drive which is on a Crucial 256 GB SSD will suddenly pack up and I would need to buy another one and restore from a recent System Image.

Is that correct? and

How long, roughly, would that take, in years?

Thanks.

 

[A Guy]

While they do have a limited number of write cycles, between their over provisioning, and their natural endurance, it could be quite a long time. Ten, twenty years? Assuming they don't just fail as electronics sometimes do. Their endurance is likely not much of a consideration:

Introducing the SSD Endurance Experiment - The Tech Report - Page 1

How long do modern consumer SSDs actually last? Longer than you?d expect! | ExtremeTech

As a comparison

How long do hard drives actually live for? | ExtremeTech

Basically, I'd say, keep up your backups, then...don't worry about it

A Guy

 

[Stevekir]

Thanks. Very interesting, and reassuring.