New EcoRAM to Boost Performance, Drop Energy Use in Data Centers
The new line of flash memory, unveiled yesterday by Spansion and Virident, is designed to replace DRAM in servers for search-heavy applications; the companies estimate significant energy savings and reductions in TCO.
By switching out standard-issue DRAM memory in servers and data center applications with a new type of flash memory, companies can achieve increases in performance and server density while dropping total energy use per square foot of raised floor.
Two companies, Spansion and Virident, are rolling out applications and hardware using EcoRAM, a flash memory system that solve two of the biggest problems facing data centers today: excessive energy use and lack of floor space.
As part of Virident's new GreenGateway product, EcoRAM can pack anywhere from 4x to over 15x as much memory into a server rack currently using DRAM -- upping the maximum memory in a best-of-class server from 32GB of DRAM to up to 500GB of EcoRAM.
"[EcoRAM] just tricks the computer into thinking it's still running on DRAM," explained Hans Wildenberg, an executive president at Spansion. "It resolves on a nearly real-time basis the energy usage problem in data centers, and you can also stack on additional performance."
Virident's GreenGateway is currently aimed at bringing EcoRAM to data centers that are handling intensive search queries or other instant-access uses. Kumar Ganapathy, Virident's COO, explained: "We want to deliver a green performance platform for internet data centers that need to scale quickly; this way, companies can develop both green and growth together."
In addition to a big jump in performance -- Ganapathy said servers show a 26x improvement in queries per second per watt over a standard server, or 4x over a DRAM-based server -- GreenGateway offers about a 50 percent reduction in total cost of ownership over a three-year period, although the servers will be more expensive up-front.
The companies presented the concept yesterday at an event in Silicon Valley; Wildenberg said they will have products on offer in the coming months.
Two companies, Spansion and Virident, are rolling out applications and hardware using EcoRAM, a flash memory system that solve two of the biggest problems facing data centers today: excessive energy use and lack of floor space.
As part of Virident's new GreenGateway product, EcoRAM can pack anywhere from 4x to over 15x as much memory into a server rack currently using DRAM -- upping the maximum memory in a best-of-class server from 32GB of DRAM to up to 500GB of EcoRAM.
"[EcoRAM] just tricks the computer into thinking it's still running on DRAM," explained Hans Wildenberg, an executive president at Spansion. "It resolves on a nearly real-time basis the energy usage problem in data centers, and you can also stack on additional performance."
Virident's GreenGateway is currently aimed at bringing EcoRAM to data centers that are handling intensive search queries or other instant-access uses. Kumar Ganapathy, Virident's COO, explained: "We want to deliver a green performance platform for internet data centers that need to scale quickly; this way, companies can develop both green and growth together."
In addition to a big jump in performance -- Ganapathy said servers show a 26x improvement in queries per second per watt over a standard server, or 4x over a DRAM-based server -- GreenGateway offers about a 50 percent reduction in total cost of ownership over a three-year period, although the servers will be more expensive up-front.
The companies presented the concept yesterday at an event in Silicon Valley; Wildenberg said they will have products on offer in the coming months.
