PMC has established a new ultra-fast storage class memory tier to accelerate applications in scale-out storage and all-flash arrays. The PMC Flashtec NVRAM Drives combine the speed and endurance of DRAM with the persistency of NAND flash to deliver ten times higher performance than the fastest Solid State Drive (SSD). According to the company, the Flashtec NVRAM Drives offer more than 10 million I/Os per second (IOPS), with sub-microsecond latency. Leveraging PCI Express (PCIe) 3.0, the Flashtec NVRAM Drives connect directly to the host to optimize CPU utilization and maximize overall system performance. The latest member of PMC’s enterprise-class Flashtec portfolio of controllers and drives, the new solutions are based on the industry-standard NVMe interface to enable plug-and-play PCIe connectivity.

The drives can be used as both a persistent memory extension mapped directly to the host, delivering more than 10 million IOPS for small, random access transactions, and as an NVMe block device for efficient DMA transactions, reaching more than one million random read 4KB IOPS.

The small form factor drives fit into virtually any server, using only one low-profile PCIe socket to enable high-density rack solutions. An in-box NVMe driver eases integration with no need for custom development to proprietary interfaces and applications. Designed with a Super Capacitor Module that operates for five years without maintenance or replacement, the Flashtec NVRAM Drives also offer a cost of ownership improvement compared to solutions that require an uninterruptible power supply (UPS).

PMC’s controllers enable SSDs with up to 8TB of storage and performance of up to 875,000 random read 4KB IOPS. Dual port functionality delivers high availability for enterprise-class application support, redundancy and sustained reliability. In addition to supporting the PCIe 3.0 host interface for maximum throughput and multiple NAND vendors, the controllers are fully programmable.

The Flashtec NVRAM Drives are available in 4GB, 8GB and 16GB capacities in production quantities as early as Q4 2014. The Flashtec NVMe controllers are available in 16- and 32-channel options and are in high-volume production.