Rebooting Intel’s Architecture

Intel has struggled to keep up in some modern hardware markets, but it hopes to revive its successes by reinventing the way we build computers. The company has announced two new systems for storing and moving data that it hopes will change the way engineers think about traditional computer architecture. The first is a new kind of data storage called Optane. It’s not clear exactly how it works, though it’s thought to use a glass-like “phase change” material to store data. One tantalizing detail that Intel has shared, though, is that Optane chips can locate and access a piece of data in a tenth of the time as regular flash memory. The second piece of hardware is a new optical interconnect system, which uses tiny lasers on silicon chips to send 100 gigabits of data per second via optical fiber, rather than traditional copper cables. Initially for use in data centers, the system will allow engineers to rethink traditional designs, which are currently limited by the data rates which can be squeezed through copper circuitry.