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Micron and Intel Announce 3D NAND Flash Co-Development To Push SSDs Past 10TB
MojoKid writes Both Micron and Intel noted in a release today that traditional planar NAND flash memory is reaching a dead-end, and as such, have been working together on 3D memory technology that could open the floodgates for high densities and faster speeds. Not all 3D memory is alike, however. This joint development effort resulted in a "floating gate cell" being used, something not uncommon for standard flash, but a first for 3D. Ultimately, this 3D NAND is composed of flash cells stacked 32 high, resulting in 256Gb MLC and 384Gb TLC die that fit inside of a standard package. That gives us 48GB per die, and up to 750GB in a single package. Other benefits include faster performance, reduced cost, and technologies that help extend the life of the memory.
A monkey could configure a 10TB array right now and power isn't exactly a problem. Putting it in a single drive is neat but the #1 problem with SSDs right now is price. The prices are horribly inconsistent day to day. They can make a 2Tb or 10Tb or 10000TB drive for all I care but what I need for my many, many custom builds at my shop is a low cost 240-256GB SSD.
Once in a while I can get a $90 silicon power S60 240GB SSD. Crucial's MX and BX series hit that low once in a while. All others are perpetually above $100 which is too expensive for a Facebook wonder do-nothing PC with a pentium 4th edition and 4GB of RAM. Some people do reasonably go past 120GB too so I do typically want to use 240GB drives. I blame smartphones' cameras and itunes' automatic backup of ipads and other devices.