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New Device Puts SSD In a DIMM Slot

Posted by timothy on from the ram-disk-returns dept.

Vigile points out a new take on SSD from Viking Modular Solutions. The SATADIMM puts an SSD in the form factor of a memory module. "The unit itself actually uses a SandForce SSD controller and draws its power from the DIMM socket directly but still connects to the computer through a SATA connection — nothing fancy like using the memory bus, etc. Performance is actually identical to other SandForce-based SSDs though the benefits for 1U servers and motherboards with dozens of DIMM slots is interesting to say the least. Likely priced outside the realm for average consumers, the SATADIMM will likely stay put in the enterprise market but represents an indicator that companies are realizing SSDs don't need to be in traditional HDD form factors."

7 of 169 comments (clear)

  1. I suppose the real question here is... by pwnies · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Why? If it's only drawing power from the DIMM slot, what benefit does that serve? Sure, in a 1U rack it *might* save a trivial amount of space. I just dont see a market for it.

    1. Re:I suppose the real question here is... by Monkeedude1212 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Sure, in a 1U rack it *might* save a trivial amount of space. I just dont see a market for it.

      If there's anything I've learned from calculus - it's that a whole lot of trivial values can add up to something significant.

    2. Re:I suppose the real question here is... by tagno25 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I have, and this would have a hard time fitting in a 1U case. The data cable comes out the top, but many 1U cases have the ram sticks at a 45 degree angle because they would be too tall. It would be OK in a 2U or larger and used as the boot disk.

    3. Re:I suppose the real question here is... by phyrexianshaw.ca · · Score: 2, Insightful

      sure, but you know what the price of ram vs the price of flash is?

      16GB dimms run me about $900 each, whereas I can get 64GB X25-E's for $700.
      and tit for tat, the performance won't be THAT bad by comparison.
      at ~$55/GB for Ram, or ~$10/GB for flash, at 1000GB quantities... that's a pretty easy call to make personally. :P

  2. Why so many ignorant replies? by PatPending · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I can't recall a /. story that has this many ignorant replies.

    Aside from the usual lack of RTFS and not reading TFA, I wonder if it's due to ignorance of hardware?

    --
    What one fool can do, another can. (Ancient Simian Proverb)
  3. Useless with virtualization? by ferrocene · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This device seems backwards with today's trends. With virtualizaion gaining ground fast, the ideal setup is to have as much RAM as possible with a SAN back end for storage - iSCSI, FC, whatever. Most local disks on servers today are RAID1 mirrors for the small hypervisor.

    So, yes, this device wastes a valuable DIMM slot to give you a less-valuable SATA drive?

    I can't think of any scenario where this would be useful unless you're talking about handheld devices - a MacBook Air or tablet of some sort.

    --
    Most folk'll never lose a toe, and then again some folk'll...
    1. Re:Useless with virtualization? by h4rr4r · · Score: 2, Insightful

      DB servers in a leased rack. Doing DB IO over FC or iSCSI adds latency that local disks are not going to have. This gets you fast local storage without having to pay more each month for leased rack space.

      Virtualizing high performance DBs is a stupid move.