SanDisk’s Ulltradimm SSD for enterprise servers put to test

Sandisk’s Ulltradimm memory bar for enterprise SSDs has been tested by TweakTown. The SSD’s flash memory communicates through the DDR3 memory interface for extra-low latency.

SanDisk got its hands on the Ultra Low Level DIMM technology when it acquired the Smart Storage company in 2013. The advantage of using the ddr3 interface over the sata, sas or pci-e interface is that the memory closer to the CPU and these shorter lines ensure lower latency. The method is also scalable and adding extra drives would not have a heavy impact on latency. The Ulltradimm consists of two Marvell 88SS9187 sata-600 controllers in combination with a chip from Diablo Technologies. Sandisk is coming with a 200GB and 400GB version. TweakTown got the 400GB version for a test.

In the 4k test of random read and write, the Ulltradimm blows the competition away, according to the site. The latency was 0.011ms. The competing SSD800MH 12Gbit/s-sas drive from HGST has a latency of 0.03ms, while the Samsung 845DC PRO SATA drive has a score of 0.036ms. Two Ulltradimms in raid0 hit 240,000 iops in the TweakTown test at 0.05ms latency.

The difference is not the same in all storage tests, and HGST’s sas disk in particular was a formidable competitor. Still, TweakTown believes SanDisk’s Ulltradimm is redefining the concept of low-level storage, opening the doors to server storage products that are less complex, require fewer components, and reduce cabling.