<s>
3D	B-Device
XPoint	I-Device
(	O
pronounced	O
three-D	O
cross	O
point	O
)	O
is	O
a	O
discontinued	O
non-volatile	B-General_Concept
memory	I-General_Concept
(	O
NVM	O
)	O
technology	O
developed	O
jointly	O
by	O
Intel	O
and	O
Micron	O
Technology	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Initial	O
prices	O
are	O
less	O
than	O
dynamic	O
random-access	B-Architecture
memory	I-Architecture
(	O
DRAM	O
)	O
but	O
more	O
than	O
flash	B-Device
memory	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
a	O
non-volatile	B-General_Concept
memory	I-General_Concept
,	O
3D	B-Device
XPoint	I-Device
has	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
features	O
that	O
distinguish	O
it	O
from	O
other	O
currently	O
available	O
RAM	B-Architecture
and	O
NVRAM	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
the	O
first	O
generations	O
of	O
3D	B-Device
XPoint	I-Device
were	O
not	O
especially	O
large	O
or	O
fast	O
,	O
3D	B-Device
XPoint	I-Device
was	O
used	O
to	O
create	O
some	O
of	O
the	O
fastest	O
SSDs	B-Device
available	O
as	O
of	O
2019	O
,	O
with	O
small-write	O
latency	B-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
the	O
memory	O
is	O
inherently	O
fast	O
,	O
and	O
byte-addressable	O
,	O
techniques	O
such	O
as	O
read-modify-write	B-Operating_System
and	O
caching	B-General_Concept
used	O
to	O
enhance	O
traditional	O
SSDs	B-Device
are	O
not	O
needed	O
to	O
obtain	O
high	O
performance	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
addition	O
,	O
chipsets	B-Device
such	O
as	O
Cascade	B-Device
Lake	I-Device
are	O
designed	O
with	O
inbuilt	O
support	O
for	O
3D	B-Device
XPoint	I-Device
,	O
that	O
allow	O
it	O
to	O
be	O
used	O
as	O
a	O
caching	B-General_Concept
or	O
acceleration	O
disk	O
,	O
and	O
it	O
is	O
also	O
fast	O
enough	O
to	O
be	O
used	O
as	O
non-volatile	B-General_Concept
RAM	I-General_Concept
(	O
NVRAM	B-General_Concept
)	O
in	O
a	O
DIMM	B-General_Concept
package	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Development	O
of	O
3D	B-Device
XPoint	I-Device
began	O
around	O
2012	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Intel	O
and	O
Micron	O
had	O
developed	O
other	O
non-volatile	B-General_Concept
phase-change	B-Device
memory	I-Device
(	O
PCM	O
)	O
technologies	O
previously	O
;	O
Mark	O
Durcan	O
of	O
Micron	O
said	O
3D	B-Device
XPoint	I-Device
architecture	O
differs	O
from	O
previous	O
offerings	O
of	O
PCM	O
,	O
and	O
uses	O
chalcogenide	O
materials	O
for	O
both	O
selector	O
and	O
storage	O
parts	O
of	O
the	O
memory	O
cell	O
that	O
are	O
faster	O
and	O
more	O
stable	O
than	O
traditional	O
PCM	O
materials	O
like	O
GST	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
But	O
today	O
,	O
it	O
is	O
thought	O
of	O
as	O
a	O
subset	O
of	O
ReRAM	B-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
3D	B-Device
XPoint	I-Device
has	O
been	O
stated	O
to	O
use	O
electrical	O
resistance	O
and	O
to	O
be	O
bit	O
addressable	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Similarities	O
to	O
the	O
resistive	B-General_Concept
random-access	I-General_Concept
memory	I-General_Concept
under	O
development	O
by	O
Crossbar	O
Inc	O
.	O
have	O
been	O
noted	O
,	O
but	O
3D	B-Device
XPoint	I-Device
uses	O
different	O
storage	O
physics	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
3D	B-Device
XPoint	I-Device
developers	O
indicate	O
that	O
it	O
is	O
based	O
on	O
changes	O
in	O
resistance	O
of	O
the	O
bulk	O
material	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Intel	O
CEO	O
Brian	O
Krzanich	O
responded	O
to	O
ongoing	O
questions	O
on	O
the	O
XPoint	B-Device
material	O
that	O
the	O
switching	O
was	O
based	O
on	O
"	O
bulk	O
material	O
properties	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Intel	O
has	O
stated	O
that	O
3D	B-Device
XPoint	I-Device
does	O
not	O
use	O
a	O
phase-change	O
or	O
memristor	O
technology	O
,	O
although	O
this	O
is	O
disputed	O
by	O
independent	O
reviewers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
3D	B-Device
XPoint	I-Device
has	O
been	O
the	O
most	O
widely	O
produced	O
standalone	O
memory	O
based	O
on	O
other	O
than	O
charge	O
storage	O
,	O
whereas	O
other	O
alternative	O
memories	O
,	O
like	O
ReRAM	B-General_Concept
or	O
MRAM	O
,	O
have	O
so	O
far	O
only	O
been	O
widely	O
developed	O
on	O
embedded	O
platforms	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
mid-2015	O
,	O
Intel	O
announced	O
the	O
Optane	O
brand	O
for	O
storage	O
products	O
based	O
on	O
3D	B-Device
XPoint	I-Device
technology	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Micron	O
(	O
using	O
the	O
QuantX	O
brand	O
)	O
estimated	O
the	O
memory	O
to	O
be	O
sold	O
for	O
about	O
half	O
the	O
price	O
of	O
dynamic	O
random-access	B-Architecture
memory	I-Architecture
(	O
DRAM	O
)	O
,	O
but	O
four	O
to	O
five	O
times	O
the	O
price	O
of	O
flash	B-Device
memory	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Initially	O
,	O
a	O
wafer	B-Algorithm
fabrication	I-Algorithm
facility	O
in	O
Lehi	O
,	O
Utah	O
,	O
operated	O
by	O
IM	O
Flash	O
Technologies	O
LLC	O
(	O
an	O
Intel-Micron	O
joint	O
venture	O
)	O
made	O
small	O
quantities	O
of	O
128	O
Gbit	O
chips	O
in	O
2015	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
early	O
2016	O
,	O
IM	O
Flash	O
announced	O
that	O
the	O
first	O
generation	O
of	O
solid-state	B-Device
drives	I-Device
would	O
achieve	O
95000	O
IOPS	O
throughput	O
with	O
9	O
microsecond	O
latency	B-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
low	O
latency	B-Architecture
significantly	O
increases	O
IOPS	O
at	O
low	O
queue	O
depths	O
for	O
random	O
operations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
At	O
Intel	O
Developer	O
Forum	O
2016	O
,	O
Intel	O
demonstrated	O
PCI	O
Express	O
(	O
PCIe	O
)	O
140	O
GB	O
development	O
boards	O
showing	O
2.4	O
–	O
3×	O
improvement	O
in	O
benchmarks	O
compared	O
to	O
PCIe	O
NAND	O
flash	O
solid-state	B-Device
drives	I-Device
(	O
SSDs	B-Device
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Despite	O
the	O
initial	O
lukewarm	O
reception	O
when	O
first	O
released	O
,	O
3D	B-Device
XPoint	I-Device
–	O
particularly	O
in	O
the	O
form	O
of	O
Intel	O
's	O
Optane	O
range	O
–	O
has	O
been	O
highly	O
acclaimed	O
and	O
widely	O
recommended	O
for	O
tasks	O
where	O
its	O
specific	O
features	O
are	O
of	O
value	O
,	O
with	O
reviewers	O
such	O
as	O
Storage	O
Review	O
concluding	O
in	O
August	O
2018	O
that	O
for	O
low-latency	O
workloads	O
,	O
3D	B-Device
XPoint	I-Device
was	O
producing	O
500,000	O
4K	O
sustained	O
IOPS	O
for	O
both	O
reads	O
and	O
writes	O
,	O
with	O
3	O
–	O
15	O
microsecond	O
latencies	O
,	O
and	O
that	O
at	O
present	O
"	O
there	O
is	O
currently	O
nothing	O
 [ else ] 	O
that	O
comes	O
close	O
"	O
,	O
while	O
Tom	O
's	O
Hardware	B-Architecture
described	O
the	O
Optane	O
900p	O
in	O
December	O
2017	O
as	O
being	O
like	O
a	O
"	O
mythical	O
creature	O
"	O
that	O
must	O
be	O
seen	O
to	O
be	O
believed	O
,	O
and	O
which	O
doubled	O
the	O
speed	O
of	O
the	O
best	O
previous	O
consumer	O
devices	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ServeTheHome	O
concluded	O
in	O
2017	O
that	O
in	O
read	O
,	O
write	O
and	O
mixed	O
tests	O
,	O
Optane	O
SSDs	B-Device
were	O
consistently	O
around	O
2.5	O
×	O
as	O
fast	O
as	O
the	O
best	O
Intel	O
datacentre	O
SSDs	B-Device
which	O
had	O
preceded	O
them	O
,	O
the	O
P3700	O
NVMe	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
AnandTech	O
noted	O
that	O
consumer	O
Optane-based	O
SSDs	B-Device
were	O
similar	O
in	O
performance	O
to	O
the	O
best	O
non-3D-XPoint	O
SSDs	B-Device
for	O
large	O
transfers	O
,	O
with	O
both	O
being	O
"	O
blown	O
away	O
"	O
by	O
the	O
large	O
transfer	O
performance	O
of	O
enterprise	O
Optane	O
SSDs	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
March	O
16	O
,	O
2021	O
,	O
Micron	O
announced	O
that	O
it	O
would	O
cease	O
development	O
of	O
3D	B-Device
XPoint	I-Device
in	O
order	O
to	O
develop	O
products	O
based	O
on	O
Compute	O
Express	O
Link	O
(	O
CXL	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
2021	O
,	O
Intel	O
discontinued	O
its	O
consumer	O
line	O
of	O
Optane	O
products	O
,	O
and	O
in	O
July	O
2022	O
,	O
Intel	O
announced	O
the	O
winding	O
down	O
of	O
the	O
Optane	O
division	O
,	O
effectively	O
discontinuing	O
the	O
development	O
of	O
3D	B-Device
XPoint	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Intel	O
distinguishes	O
between	O
"	O
Intel	O
Optane	B-Device
Memory	I-Device
"	O
and	O
"	O
Intel	O
Optane	O
SSDs	B-Device
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
a	O
memory	O
component	O
,	O
Optane	O
requires	O
specific	O
chipset	B-Device
and	O
CPU	B-Device
support	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
an	O
ordinary	O
SSD	B-Device
,	O
Optane	O
is	O
broadly	O
compatible	O
with	O
a	O
very	O
wide	O
range	O
of	O
systems	O
,	O
and	O
its	O
main	O
requirements	O
are	O
much	O
like	O
any	O
other	O
SSD	B-Device
–	O
ability	O
to	O
be	O
plugged	O
into	O
the	O
hardware	B-Architecture
,	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
,	O
BIOS/UEFI	O
and	O
driver	O
support	O
for	O
NVMe	B-Application
,	O
and	O
adequate	O
cooling	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
a	O
standards-based	O
NVMe-PCIe	O
SSD	B-Device
:	O
Optane	O
devices	O
can	O
be	O
used	O
as	O
the	O
storage	O
element	O
of	O
an	O
ordinary	O
solid-state	B-Device
drive	I-Device
(	O
SSD	B-Device
)	O
,	O
typically	O
in	O
M.2	B-Protocol
card	O
format	O
,	O
NVMe	B-Application
PCI	O
Express	O
format	O
,	O
or	O
U.2	B-Protocol
standalone	O
format	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
Optane	O
is	O
used	O
as	O
an	O
ordinary	O
SSD	B-Device
(	O
in	O
any	O
of	O
these	O
formats	O
)	O
,	O
its	O
compatibility	O
requirements	O
are	O
the	O
same	O
as	O
for	O
any	O
traditional	O
SSD	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Therefore	O
,	O
compatibility	O
depends	O
only	O
upon	O
whether	O
the	O
hardware	B-Architecture
,	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
and	O
drivers	B-Application
can	O
support	O
NVMe	B-Application
and	O
similar	O
SSDs	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Optane	O
SSDs	B-Device
are	O
therefore	O
compatible	O
with	O
a	O
wide	O
range	O
of	O
older	O
and	O
newer	O
chipsets	B-Device
and	O
CPUs	B-Device
(	O
including	O
non-Intel	O
chipsets	B-Device
and	O
CPUs	B-Device
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
a	O
memory	O
or	O
on-board	O
acceleration	O
device	O
:	O
Optane	O
devices	O
can	O
also	O
be	O
used	O
as	O
NVDIMM	B-Device
(	O
non	O
volatile	O
main	O
memory	O
)	O
or	O
for	O
certain	O
kinds	O
of	O
caching	B-General_Concept
or	O
accelerating	O
roles	O
,	O
but	O
unlike	O
general	O
SSD	B-Device
roles	O
,	O
this	O
requires	O
newer	O
hardware	B-Architecture
,	O
since	O
the	O
chipset	B-Device
and	O
motherboard	B-Device
must	O
be	O
designed	O
to	O
work	O
specifically	O
with	O
Optane	O
in	O
those	O
roles	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Micron	O
offers	O
NVMe	B-Application
AIC	B-Device
SSD	B-Device
drives	I-Device
(	O
QuantX	O
X100	O
)	O
which	O
maintain	O
compatibility	O
with	O
NVMe	B-Application
capable	O
systems	O
.	O
</s>
