The Violin 1010 is a 2U rackmountable device that the vendor states can be used by memory hungry servers as extended memory or high performance storage. The device itself is filled with DRAM (up to 504 GB supported in the initial configuration) and connects to/communicates with the host computer via a PCI Express (x4 or x8) Host Interface Board (HIB), which is included by the vendor with the Violin package (the PCIe cards are supplied to the vendor by One Stop Systems). Potential uses of the product include additional memory for swap files, RAM disks, Memory Mapped Files, or as storage (the included drivers support disk emulation, block or SCSI). The device supports both Windows (XP/2003/Vista) drivers and open-source drivers for use with Red Hat Enterprise or SUSE Enterprise Linux.

At the core of the appliance is the vendor's Violin Intelligent Memory Module (VIMM), up to 84 of which can be installed in a single 2U device. Each VIMM includes the memory itself, as well as a "Violin Buffer," which implements a 3-port switch and additionally performs local memory controller functions. A central controller is also included in the enclosure to perform higher level functions (memory mapping to the physical VIMMs, for example). The vendor states that their switched-based architecture--which they dub Violin Switched Memory, or VXM--is the key enabler of their product's performance, as well as enables scalability to 4,000 or more memory devices as well as supports memories of different sizes, speeds, and types within a single system, among other advantages.

Performance wise, the appliances boasts latency of 3 microseconds and support for over 3 million IOPS using 128 byte read blocks with a "perfect" server. In real-server testing of the next version of the appliance the vendor states that 1 million IOPS were actually achieved, a result of improvements to I/O efficiency of the OS (the currently shipping Violin 1010 boasts real-server IOPS on the order of about 400K).

The initial version of the device is based on volatile DRAM memory; with the vendor noting multiple technologies employed to protect data from loss. Among these technologies are ECC protection per module, multi-module RAID protection (data is striped acrosss four modules with parity written to a 5th module), and 32-bit CRCs. The architecture of the platform is such that up to 2 modules can fail without data loss; and global hot-spare modules are included for "fail-in-place" recovery of failed modules. Additionally, dead modules can be swapped out non-disruptively. When used as a storage device, the vendor states that 3rd party DR software should be used to replicate the device data to local or remote storage (storage that would be provided by the customer).

The above performance metrics are based on a DRAM-loaded system; however, the vendor also notes that Flash-based VIMMs are also planned, with expected performance of 100K sustained random write IOPS. Since Flash and DRAM-based VIMMS could be mixed in the appliance, the vendor notes that the device could be configured such that the DRAM handles temporary file needs while the Flash handles persistent files.

Violin 1010 Starter Kits, which include 120 GB DRAM, an x4 HIB, driver software and a PCIe cable are available now and listed by the vendor at under $50,000. Orders will be accepted for version 2 of the product (with the performance improvements described above) in September.

Contact Violin Memory for further information.