For Intel, the production of solid-state storage remains an important business, although it is far from being highly profitable. In a special briefing, company representatives explained that the supply of units based on 144 graded 3D NAND memories will start this year and will be extended to the entire current SSD range next year.
Comparing Intel’s progress in increasing the density of data storage in 3D NAND storage, this cannot be attributed to outsiders, although the company is taking quite extensive measures to increase the number of layers. Intel’s main competitors, who have scored in a hundred steps, crossed paths last year or at the beginning, but the company expects to jump from 96 to 144 steps this year, ahead of its rivals for some time. Deliveries of Keystone Harbor Series devices based on 144-layer 3D NAND memory are expected to begin this year, and next year the brand’s entire line of SSDs will be based on 144-layer memory.
According to Intel, quoted by the Blocks & Files function, the brand’s solid-state drives based on QLC memory have already shipped more than ten million units. The development of a PLC-type memory, which allows some information to be stored in a single cell, is still underway.
The Alder Stream generation of Optane drives in a single-port version will be released later this year, next year they will be switched to a dual-port version. The Alder Stream family will use the new generation of XPoint 3D storage with four layers instead of the previous two. This will double the maximum capacity of such units. Since the capacity limit is now one and a half terabytes, it can be increased to three terabytes with Alder Stream. This family of devices will receive a new controller with support for PCI Express 4.0.
The development of new generations of memories such as 3D XPoint is being continued by the company’s laboratory in New Mexico. Micron will continue to provide the current generation of memory under the existing contract, but in the future production will be located at Intel’s own facilities. Their expertise in the structure of this migration has yet to be determined.
The Intel Optane family of devices is becoming increasingly popular with the company’s customers. 85% of Intel customers who test drives purchase Optane for their serial systems. When we talk about the Optane DC memory type, it is used by at least two hundred Fortune 500 companies. The second generation of Optane DC memory modules with the Barlow Pass symbol will be introduced before the end of this year. An Intel event is planned for June to introduce new products from the SSD segment.