Fred Weber, the former CTO of Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) founded a firm known as MetaRAM in 2006. The company has been running well under the radar since its inception, leaving many to wonder what the firm with an auspicious leader was actually doing. Now we know!
MetaRAM is now sampling 8GB DDR2 DIMMs where 4GB was previously the maximum. They’ve designed an innovative stacking system for the DRAM ICs which crams two to four DIMMs worth of chips on a single stick.
The real magic, however, is MetaRAM’s control chip which sits between the ICs and the platform’s memory controller. This chip is really the voodoo behind the doodad, as it keeps the flow of traffic to and from the memory controller smooth and expedient. Without such circuitry, the whole shebang would be a train-wreck of high latencies and voltages.
The whole notion is really quite unique. On top of doubling today’s maximum GB/slot figure, it maintains the same thermal and voltage envelope, meaning no kooky chipsets or BIOS tricks. While it’s not as fast as, say, FB-DIMM, more memory in a high-load datacenter is never something to scoff at.
Bring on the threads!
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