Chip manufacturer Micron Technology has introduced a new hard drive for data centers. This will make the company more competitive with Intel, with which it has worked for more than ten years.
The new Micron drive is called the X100, writes Reuters. The X100 is an SSD that can be plugged directly into a server. The drive contains a chip that is faster than previous solid-state drives, which increases performance. This is interesting, for example, for artificial intelligence, which requires huge amounts of data to learn new tasks.
Intel also works with such chips and already offers a second generation of that technology. The X100 is, therefore, direct competition. However, this is the first time that Micron Technology has entered this specific market.
Faster than Intel
Micron Technology now claims that its drive is faster than Intel’s and other competitors. The company attributes this to the controller in the X100. This controller can get instructions from the server processor about which data to read or write.
The controllers are developed by Micron Technology itself. The company hopes that it can be distinguishing in a new market.
End of joint venture
As mentioned before, Micron Technology and Intel have worked together for many years. They did so in a joint venture called IM Flash, which is now the only manufacturer of 3D Xpoint memory technology. This technology improves storage performance and reduces server memory costs.
That joint venture is now coming to an end. Micron Technology announced in January that it was definitively taking over this portfolio from Intel. The company paid $1.5 billion for it. The purchase is due to be completed this month.
The acquisition not only means that Micron Technology will take over the IM Flash activities, but also that Intel will withdraw from this market. With the acquisition, Micron Technology wants to accelerate the development of 3D Xpoint technology and improve the development process for the applications.
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