Almost two months ago, we showed you that Micron was working on NVDIMM memory. Now, Viking has announced that it is working on its ArxCis-NV RAM memory.
Normally, RAM memory loses all the data on it the moment that the power is cut. Micron and Viking's workarounds to this are almost identical. The identical part is that both the solutions are based on a certain amount of DRAM memory, which is coupled with exactly twice as much NAND memory. Upon losing power, all the data that was on the DRAM memory would be written to the NAND memory.
The difference between Micron's approach and Viking's is in the power delivery system. While the Micron system works with modern high-capacity capacitors, Viking's approach works with coupled batteries.
Viking's ArxCis-NV DIMMs would work in essentially any DDR3 memory slot. Beyond the security that the added NAND offers, the unit should also extend the lifetime of servers' SSDs. Currently, many systems make backups of the contents of the memory to an SSD with regular intervals in case of power loss, Viking's ArxCis-NV wouldn't need to make backups as frequently since it would automatically save all the data to the onboard NAND upon power loss. This would reduce the amount of writes to SSDs, which should notably increase their lifespan.
Obviously, the product is not targeted at consumers, but rather companies that have servers carrying large amounts of data and needing the most reliable setups. The ArxCis-NV would also be too expensive for consumer use.
According to Viking, its ArxCis-NV DIMM will first hit the market in an 8 GB version with 16 GB of NAND memory. According to Viking, it will cost about $200. A 16 GB version is scheduled for a later release.
