What intel OPTANE series modules are compatible with RST software?

[LGeor12]

May I use Optane 660p, 760p, 800p, 900p with RST to accelerate HDD?

How much Optane GBs are needed for 12-16TB HDD to be well accelerated?

[n_scott_pearson · Accepted solution]

The 660p, 665p and 760p are standard SSDs; nothing to do with Optane. The 800p, 900p and 905p are SSDs implemented using Optane Memory. Finally, the Intel Optane Memory H10 With Solid-State Storage are hybrid SSDs with a standard SSD portion and an Optane Memory portion. The Optane Memory portion is used to accelerate the performance of the SSD portion.

To accelerate a HDD, you need an Intel Optane Memory or Intel Optane Memory M10 module. These are M.2 NVMe devices. The Intel Optane Memory modules come in 16 and 32 GB sizes. The Intel Optane Memory M10 modules come in 16, 32 and 64 GB sizes. Note that only the 32 and 64 GB modules support folder pinning (more on this im a moment).

Intel Optane Memory is used to accelerate the performance of a HDD (or, in the case of the H10, SSD) through file-level caching. The size of the Intel Optane Memory module is not directly related to the size of the HDD; you choose the size of the module based upon the amount of space required for the files that are often accessed and thus will increase the apparent performance of the HDD by having them cached. As mentioned, the 16GB modules do not support folder pinning. This is a capability that allows you to specify that all files in a folder structure need to be kept in the cache (this is good for gaming).

Hope this explains it,

...S

[LGeor12]

Yes, now is much better. What about 118GB modules ? And why I cannot use 900p 280 GB for same ?

[n_scott_pearson]

Because they are not Optane Memory modules, they are Optane SSDs.

Intel used to support Intel Smart Response Technology (SRT), a capability within Intel RST that allowed all or a part of a SATA SSD to be used as a HDD acceleration cache. Unfortunately, when they released the support for PCIe redirection, NVMe and Optane Memory modules, support for Intel SRT was dropped. I was not a happy camper that day, I can tell you.

...S

[JosafathB_Intel]

Hello LGeor12,

Thank you for contacting Intel® Memory & Storage Support.

Please take into consideration that the usage of an Intel® Optane™ SSD 900P Series as cache device is not a tested or validated configuration for this drive and may cause unpredictable results since the hardware intended for this purpose is the Intel® Optane™ memory with the Optane software or RST software.

The information about the Intel® Optane™ Memory family options available for purchase are accessible on this link:

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/search.html?_charset_=UTF-8&q=Optane+memory

As you can see in this site, the biggest capacity available Optane™ memory will be the Intel® Optane™ Memory M10 Series (64GB, M.2 80mm PCIe 3.0, 20nm, 3D XPoint™).

We advise you to contact your local distributor to confirm the availability of this product in your country.

If you have any future questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us. We will be more than happy to help you in any way we can.

Best regards,

Josh B.

Intel® Customer Support Technician

A Contingent Worker at Intel®