Micron is working on research to develop second- and third-generation 3D Xpoint storage technology that can represent a threat to Intel's Optame.
Micron Announces QuantX Storage Technology
According to Computerworld, Intel announced at CES in January its new class of storage and memory device called Optane. The new storage technology aims to supercharge servers and workstations. But now it seems that Optane has competition from Micron that is coming with storage and memory based on the same underlying 3D Xpoint technology.
In fact, Micron and Intel jointly developed the first-generation 3D Xpoint technology announced back in 2015. But what has been initially a fruitful partnership appears now to turning into a rivalry. Micron is already working on research into the second- and third-generations of 3D Xpoint technology, while Intel just ships its first low-capacity Optanes for PCs.
Micron has called QuantX its 3D Xpoint products. Both Intel and Micron companies believe that 3D Xpoint storage devices could replace conventional DRAM and SSDs in servers and PCs. According to Intel, Optane SSDs could be as much as 10 times faster than conventional SSDs.
The new 3D Xpoint technology is significantly denser than DRAM. In the second quarter of this year, it is expected that the first low-capacity Optane storage will appear in PCs. PCs will be capable to boot faster and load games and applications more quickly due to implementing cache Optane memory solutions.
Improvements In Next-Gen QuantX Products
Micron is expected to ship its first small quantities of QuantX products by the end of the year, according to a statement made by the company during an earnings call in late January. In the development of QuantX, Micron has adopted a different strategy than Intel. The company will target high-capacity QuantX DRAM and SSDs at high-end systems and servers instead of PCs.
Micron wants to reduce latency and add more storage capacity in the next-generation QuantX products, according to a statement of Scott DeBoer, vice president of Micron, made this week during an analyst meeting Scottsdale, Arizona. DeBoer said that QuantX is "a real exciting technology for the future."
Both QuantX and Optane products can be used in data centers for applications like machine learning. The dual ability for these new technologies to be used as both storage and memory makes them useful for caching and hot and cold storage.
Micron will make its QuantX drives available through companies producing storage products. According to AnandTech, the company is currently sampling its 64-layer second generation 3D NAND and promises to ramp up production in 2017 in order to be able to deliver "meaningful output" by December. The 64-layer 3D NAND will decrease the cost per bit of TLC by at least 30 percent and increase the total GB per wafer by more than 80 percent.
The company is planning to move to about 96 layers technology, estimating that GB/wafer will improve by more than 40 percent. In the year 2017, Micron will also begin transitioning to their 16 nm node for DRAM. According to the company, this move will improve cost per GB by at least 20 percent. The 16 nm GDDR5 memory will be introduced later this year.
