First 375GB Optane SSD Released By Intel That Can Also Be Used As RAM

Silicon Valley chip giant Intel has announced its 3D Xpoint Memory-based Optane SSD DC P4800X. It’s a 375GB SSD that designed for data center applications. This revolutionary product can also be used as RAM. Intel has announced the initial availability of 375GB Optane SSD with a price tag of $1,520.

Back in July 2015, Intel and Micron announced their 3D Xpoint Memory that was claimed to be 1,000 times faster than the modern SSDs. This new class of memory was publicized both as non-volatile as well as system memory, i.e., a replacement for both a PCs SSD and RAM. Intel called the 3D Xpoint Memory a major breakthrough in the storage technology since the advent of NAND in 1989.

Now, based on this superfast 3D storage technology, Intel has unveiled the Optane SSD DC P4800X. It’s a 375GB Solid State drive that’s designed for the NVMe and PCI Express slots in servers. It’s basically a datacenter-focused product with high read/write loads and low latency, and can be used as RAM.

The initial limited availability of this memory has started for $1,520, which will be followed by the broad availability in later 2017.

Intel calls it “the first product to combine the attributes of memory and storage” and the world’s most responsive data center SSD.

Product Specification Of Optane SSD DC P4800X

Capacity	Latency	Quality of Service: 99.999%	Throughput	Endurance	Form Factor
375 GB	<10µs	4 KB random queue depth1, read/write: <60/100 µs 4 KB random queue depth 16, read/write: <150/200 µs	IOPs random 4 KB read/write: up to 550,000/500,000 IOPS random 4 KB 70/30 mixed read/write: up to 500,000	30 DWPD; 12.3 petabytes written (PBW)	AIC (HHHL)

 Source: Intel

Intel plans to launch 750GB PCIe model and a 375GB model in the U.2 form factor in the second quarter of 2017. The company also intends to release a 1.5TB PCIe card, and 750GB and 1.5TB U.2 stick in the second half of 2017, according to Ars Technica.

In its blog post, Intel has said that the new Optane SSD DC P4800X Series will power new solutions for applications like “artificial intelligence and machine learning, faster trading, and deeper insights into medical scans.”

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