Something I saw on my LinkedIn feed in regards to DellEMC scrapping the DSSD array:
True, dynamic RAM or DRAM will always beat everything else. However the problem with DRAM is that it’s not persistent storage. Once power is cut off from DRAM, you lose everything. That’s why you don’t see many storage arrays use DRAM exclusively.
The industry is trying to change that with whats called storage class memory. Storage class memory gives you the speed that’s very close to DRAM with the persistence of NAND flash. Intel’s Optane flash is one such example.
I find it interesting that there are representatives of vendors that are willing to dismiss a technology because they don’t currently support it. To me, that’s dangerous thinking. NVMe removes the bottlenecks caused by SAS and SATA interfaces, allowing for much better throughput that is expected from all flash storage. Besides, I don’t think any all-flash vendor was concerned with a niche product like DSSD. Even the article cited from The Register mentioned that those who needed storage for high-performance computing felt mainstream all-flash arrays fulfilled their needs.
You see this among IT vendors all the time. It’s either the marketing speak or basically just drinking the corporate Kool-Aid. You should never completely dismiss a new technology, otherwise, you’ll find yourself left in the past.
Cache 'n Carry 