Put 400GB in a DIMM slot

IDF 2010: Viking SATADIMMs pack in the storage

Sep 16, 2010 by

Sandforce LogoSANDFORCE DIDN’T HAVE any new products to show off at IDF, but there was a very cool new toy using their controller on display. It is called the SATADIMM, and it is an SSD in DIMM form factor.

Sata DIMM

All business in the front….

The idea behind Viking’s SATADIMM is simple, take an SSD and put it in the form factor of a DIMM. You don’t use any of the memory slot’s data connections, that would not work at all, you just pull power from the slot. From the front, it looks very much like an ordinary DIMM with 9 DRAM chips.

SATA DIMM rear

…..Party in the back!

If you look closely, you will see that it is not an ordinary DIMM. If you flip it over, it becomes blindingly obvious to even the most dense onlooker because DIMMs don’t have SATA connectors in the middle. Or Sandforce controllers. Or tons of passive components.

What you end up with is a 400GB SSD that slots into every extra DIMM slot that you have open. Anyone running 1U machines or blade servers likely has more RAM slots open than drive bays. You have to admit that the idea is quite compelling.S|A

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Charlie Demerjian

Roving engine of chaos and snide remarks at SemiAccurate
Charlie Demerjian is the founder of Stone Arch Networking Services and SemiAccurate.com. SemiAccurate.com is a technology news site; addressing hardware design, software selection, customization, securing and maintenance, with over one million views per month. He is a technologist and analyst specializing in semiconductors, system and network architecture. As head writer of SemiAccurate.com, he regularly advises writers, analysts, and industry executives on technical matters and long lead industry trends. Charlie is also available through Guidepoint and Mosaic. FullyAccurate