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Paper highlights
Discusses a new secondary storage technology that could revolutionize computer architecture Faster than hard drives Lower entry cost Lower weight and volume Lower power consumption Paper emphasis is on physical description of device
MEMS
Microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) use Same parallel wafer-fabrication process as semiconductor memories Keeps the prices low Same mechanical positioning of R/W heads as disk drives Data can be stored using higher density thin-film technology
Conceptual view
Sled suspension is omitted from drawing
Media positioning
Systems current target is to have each probe tip in the middle of a 100 mm square Media actuator must be able to move at least 50 mm in each direction Can be achieved with an actuation voltage of 120V Well above CMOS rated voltage
Application performance
PostMark benchmark: Models file activity in Internet servers Prototype is 3.4 times faster than current drives Much faster metadata updates
TPC-D benchmark: Models transaction processing Prototype is 3.9 times faster despite extensive caching in competing disk drive
POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS
Lighter and less shock sensitive than disk drives Great for notebook PCs, PDAs and video camcorders Lower cost than disk drives in 1 to 10 GB range Will open many new applications High areal densities Great for storing huge amounts of data Can combine computing and storage on a single chip
MY OVERALL OPINION
Technology has a bright future if and when production kinks get solved We should remain somewhat skeptical Not the first gap-filling technology to be tried Bubble memories were hot in the 70s Lower RAM prices killed them in the early 80s Watch prices of non-volatile RAM