Intel® Memory Drive Technology transparently integrates Intel® Optane™ SSDs into the memory subsystem.
Intel® Memory Drive Technology is a revolutionary software that extends system memory transparently. Combined with an Intel® Optane™ Solid State Drive (SSD), Intel® Memory Drive Technology transparently integrates the SSD into the memory subsystem and makes it appear like DRAM to the OS and applications. Intel® Memory Drive Technology increases memory capacity beyond DRAM limitations and delivers DRAM-like performance in a completely transparent manner to the operating system and application. In addition, no changes are required to the OS or applications.

There are two key scenarios in which it is beneficial for an IT environment to use
Intel® Memory Drive Technology:
- Displace a portion of DRAM to reduce overall memory cost
- Grow the memory pool beyond DRAM capacities when large system memory is required

Displace DRAM for More Affordable Memory
Intel® Memory Drive Technology enables data centers to deliver more affordable memory pools by displacing a portion of DRAM. By pairing the DRAM with the high-performing non-volatile memory of the Intel® Optane™ SSD, data centers can more cost-effectively execute workloads that require high-end memory configurations with much lower DRAM capacity installed, saving on both Capex and Opex costs.

Extend Memory for a Bigger Memory Footprint
Intel® Memory Drive Technology enables data centers to grow the memory footprint beyond the DRAM capacity. Together, the DRAM and the Intel® Optane™ SSD emulate a single volatile memory pool. Intel® Memory Drive Technology intelligently determines where data should be located in the pool to maximize performance, enabling servers to deliver performance across many workloads-even when DRAM is only supplying one-third to one-tenth of the memory pool capacity.

Enable New Possibilities for the Enterprise
The combination of cost-efficiency and increased capacity means enterprises can break through today’s memory limits, enabling new possibilities—like accessing higher-capacity, in-memory datasets to deliver better, faster analytics insight. As an example, cloud providers can reduce capital cost for memory when enabled to oversubscribe workloads with greater overall capacity. Or, high-performance computing centers can increase large memory datasets to improve research and scientific results, and test new simulations quickly and cost-efficiently.

The World’s Most Responsive Data Center SSD
The Intel® Optane™ SSD DC P4800X is the first data center SSD to combine the attributes of memory and storage. With an industry-leading combination of high throughput, low latency, high QoS, and ultra-high endurance, this innovative solution is optimized to break through data access bottlenecks by providing a new data tier. The DC P4800X accelerates applications for fast caching and fast storage to increase scale per server and reduce transaction costs for latency sensitive workloads.

About Intel® Optane™ Technology
Intel® Optane™ technology is a unique combination of 3D XPoint™ memory media with Intel’s advanced system memory controller, interface hardware and software IP. This revolutionary technology is offered in several form factors to unleash vast system performance in a range of products.