Intel 3D XPoint Storage

The SSD in your computer might seem pretty fast, but it’s about to be left in the dust by a new storage standard from Intel and Micron. After 10 years of research and development, the companies have announced 3D XPoint. It’s the first new type of storage to be created in 25 years and it’s reportedly 1,000 times faster than the NAND flash storage used in SSDs and mobile devices.

Intel is really pushing the speed angle, but 3D XPoint (pronounced cross-point) should also boost storage capacity dramatically. It’s 10 times more dense than the most advanced NAND architectures, meaning you’ll be able to get more bytes in the same physical space. Intel also says XPoint will be affordable, but there’s no telling if you will agree with Intel’s definition of “affordable” when the technology hits the market.

At the heart of XPoint is a new type of data storage mechanism. It doesn’t use transistors or capacitors like traditional flash storage. It’s composed of a lattice of perpendicular conductors stacked on top of each other. The memory cells sit at the intersection of these conductors and can be addressed individually bit-by-bit. The ability to quickly read small data clusters is what makes XPoint so fast.

XPoint is speedy enough that it could replace both non-volatile storage (your SSD) and RAM. In fact, it’s too fast for any current interface technology to keep up with. The first XPoint chips will connect to computers over PCI Express, but even that won’t have enough bandwidth to truly let XPoint shine. New motherboard technology will be needed to take full advantage of the XPoint in the future. Intel and Micron expect to make the memory available sometime next year, but it’s not clear if it will be ready for consumer applications right away.