RAM + Optane as cache for SSD

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krajniak
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RAM + Optane as cache for SSD

Post by krajniak »

Hi everyone!

I've been using Primo on my current system - 4GB of RAM cache for a 1TB Intel 760p SSD and have really liked the performance boost. I am now planning my upcoming build and was wondering if anybody has any experience pairing RAM + Optane as a cache for an SSD?

I'm thinking
32GB of RAM as L1
118GB of Optane (intel optane 800p 118gb M.2) as L2

for a 1TB Adata SSD.

Anybody have experience with a RAM/Optane pairing and can Primo handle that?

Thanks!!
gringo1
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Re: RAM + Optane as cache for SSD

Post by gringo1 »

Hi, i'm interested in this option too. Anybody can help?
neatchee
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Re: RAM + Optane as cache for SSD

Post by neatchee »

Not sure what you mean by "can PrimoCache handle it" but I'm gonna say yes. There is nothing you described that PrimoCache wouldn't be able to handle.

I'm skeptical of the practical performance increase you'll see running a good NVMe SSD w/ Optane cache, but there's nothing stopping you from doing it :)
cichy45
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Re: RAM + Optane as cache for SSD

Post by cichy45 »

Using Optane or RAM to cache SSD is good if you need hundreds of thousands IOPS for your workload - some application where you have thousands of client accessing database and performing lots of small requests/inserts.

IMHO completely useless for daily usage if all you do is browse internet, play some games or even doing some software compilation. You would realyl need powerful workstation (like 32c threadripper) and compile huuuge projects to be bottle-necked by nvme ssd and in need of optane-ram caching.
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Re: RAM + Optane as cache for SSD

Post by Support »

agree with cichy45.
krajniak
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Re: RAM + Optane as cache for SSD

Post by krajniak »

Thanks everyone for the feedback!

I admit - the workload is potentially IOPS intensive, but likely not in full need off the combined caching (part of it is just because I can :) ). And majority of the work would probably benefit more from the data-file being held purely in RAM. I might still give it a try, I'd likely buy the individual parts anyway, haha.
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