In 2017, Intel released the proud technology based on 'BlackTech' 3D XPoint technology, which allows traditional HDDs to achieve comparable read/write performance with SSDs.
In 2018, Intel’s old rival, AMD, also released its own HDD hard disk acceleration solution—StoreMI technology—at the same time as it updated the second generation of the Dragon processor.
Are these two solutions better or worse? Look at our analysis and actual measurement.
Differences in implementation
The original intention of both programs is to obtain low-cost, high-performance, high-capacity memory by accelerating the mechanical hard disk. However, there are many differences in the implementation.
Simply put, Ao Teng technology uses algorithm-awareness to mirror a frequently-called file on a mechanical hard disk to the Aurora hardware based on 3D XPoint technology, thereby achieving a significant performance increase.
AMD's solution is more simple and crude, and the mechanical hard disk, solid-state hard disk, and DRAM memory (not required) are packaged into a logical partition. Then, software is used to allocate storage, so as to achieve overall performance improvement.
compatibility
Ao Teng is released with the Intel 200 series motherboards. Due to the time, basically the current market except the H310 and H110 motherboards, all sell Intel motherboards support Ao Teng technology. But Ao Teng products must occupy an M.2. Hard disk slot, for some motherboards with only one M.2 slot, M.2 SSD and Ao Teng must choose one or the other.
In contrast, StoreMI is currently only supported on the X470 and B450 series motherboards, and the less expensive B450 motherboard is not yet available. The advantage is that consumers using the first generation of Ruilong processors can also get StoreMI if they use the X470 motherboard. Technical support.
The cost
No matter what kind of technology, as long as it is a consumer-class product can not escape the price of this off. Then Ao Teng and StoreMI in the use of cost who have an advantage?
1. Aoteng: Need to buy extra hardware
To use Audeng technology, you must purchase Aotun hardware based on 3D XPoint technology. We have inquired about the current offer of the most expensive 16-ounce version of Aotun products:
At present, the price of the 16GB Ao Teng is up and down at 130 yuan, while the 32GB version requires more than 300 yuan. If it is only used to accelerate mechanical hard disks, 16GB is basically enough.
For AMD, because it does not require additional hardware support, the StoreMI is almost 'totally free'. Although this is indeed the case, the fact that the X470 must cost significantly more than the B350 motherboard actually means higher platform costs. In addition, the StoreMI must be available on a platform with a SSD. This 'solid-state drive' is not just a traditional NAND, but it can also be a Proudun hardware.
In terms of construction costs, the two basically belong to the degree of mutual pros and cons.
Ease of Use: Deployment Threshold
Said so much, as a consumer-level technology, the portability and difficulty of use must not be too high. Ordinary consumer operation is too difficult to seriously affect the experience.
If you return to the Avantstrom technology a year ago, the deployment of the Aurora Acceleration Technology is a disaster. The stability of the software, the logic of the operation, and the options that need to be adjusted are all fully engineered. The use is far more difficult than normal. The range of consumer capabilities.
But now, Intel has simplified the deployment of Aoteng to a 'fool' one-click completion method. Both efficiency and ease of use have been as perfect as possible.
In contrast, StoreMI, the entire software has not yet launched a Chinese version, and even the test documents that the author has got are dozens of pages of tens of thousands of English documents. Fortunately, the deployment of software is not very complicated. However, there are no detailed instructions. Ordinary consumers are more likely to suffer losses due to misuse. We hope that AMD will add Chinese and deployment guidance as soon as possible in subsequent release updates.
Performance: Different
With regard to performance, we conducted an actual test. The test used two such platforms:
Let's test the performance of this mechanical hard disk first:
The test results after deploying the Aoten technology:
It can be seen that due to the strong random performance of 3DXPoint, the 4K performance has been improved by orders of magnitude.
So if you use 2GB DDR4 memory, 250GB 860EVO and the same 10TB hard drive to form the StoreMI array, what will the performance be like?
It can be seen that with the addition of memory, the continuous read and write performance of StoreMI is very powerful, and the write performance is basically the performance of the 860EVO SATA SSD.
Compared to Ao Teng, StoreMI is more dependent on the performance of the SSDs in the array. As the memory is added, it looks very good at running points. However, the gap between the two is not very large in 4K performance.
Security: Aotang has obvious advantages
In addition to performance, the most concern is probably the security issue. Aoteng technology itself is dependent on 3DXpoint technology, and 3DXPoint technology as a non-volatile memory, and will not lose data due to sudden power outages and so on. And if Ao Teng itself has problems, it will not affect the data in the mechanical hard disk.
Because StoreMI is adopting a bundled approach for in-depth integration, without the proper completion of StoreMI removal, both SSDs and mechanical hard disks cannot be used independently. Once one of them is damaged, the entire StoreMI array will suffer losses. Relevant recovery requires very complicated operations. Data security cannot be guaranteed.
to sum up:
Overall, as a product that has been released for a year, Ao Teng looks more mature and reliable. And StoreMI tends to integrate existing resources to improve performance, but the overall degree of completion is still somewhat young. If you can say, Ao Teng can basically Reliance is given to ordinary consumers. So at this stage, StoreMI has not yet reached such a level. Of course, the above methods are not as practical and effective as high-capacity SSDs.
