Intel unveils second-gen Optane memory

Intel has unveiled the second generation of its Optane memory and storage products, all slated to release next year.

At Intel’s Memory and Storage Day in Seoul, South Korea, the company unveiled “Barlow Pass” Optane DC persistent memory and “Alder Stream” Optane DC SSDs.

The company didn't go into detail, but said there are "major" performance improvements from the previous generation.

The vendor also unveiled and demonstrated the fourth generation “Arbordale” 3D NAND SSDs, now with 144-layer quad level cell (QLC), up from the 96-layer current gen “Cliffdale-R” range.

All three storage products are expected to release in 2020 alongside its tenth-generation Ice Lake Xeon processors for servers.

Intel’s Optane DC persistent memory are high-density, high-performance, non-volatile memory modules compatible with DDR4 RAM slots, which allow servers to accommodate terabytes of non-volatile storage coupled with the CPU.

The vendor’s 3D NAND range meanwhile are high-density PCIe SSDs with its QLC technology, targeted to both consumer and enterprise customers. The tech stacks layers of data storage cells vertically to create higher-capacity NAND drives.

The company also revealed that it has started to manufacture Optane tech at an Intel facility in New Mexico in the US, following its recent split with Micron.

Earlier this year, Intel and Micron ceased their partnership on Optane, with the latter buying out the chipmaker’s share of the IM Flash Technologies joint venture.

Nico Arboleda traveled to Intel Memory and Storage Day in Seoul, South Korea as a guest of Intel.