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Storage Performance and Cost Comparison
1. Storage Tiering and Interconnect
2. Various Storage Types
| Storage Type | Bandwidth | Capacity | Response Latency | Cost per Unit of Storage | Storage Principle | Use Case |
|---|
| CPU L1 Cache | 256-512GB/s | 32-64KB/core | <1ns | ~$2000/MB | SRAM | Closest cache layer to CPU core |
| CPU L2 Cache | 64-256GB/s | 256KB-2MB/core group | 2-5ns | ~$1000/MB | Partly SRAM, partly embedded DRAM | Next-level cache for the CPU |
| CPU L3 Cache | 32-128GB/s | 4-16MB/CPU | 5-15ns | ~$100-200/MB | Embedded DRAM | Last-level cache for the CPU |
| GPU L1 Cache | 8-32TB/s | 16-96KB/SM | <1ns | ~$2000/MB | SRAM | Closest cache layer to GPU core |
| GPU L2 Cache | 1-4TB/s | 512KB-4MB/SMC | 5-15ns | ~$500-1000/MB | Partly SRAM, partly embedded DRAM | Next-level cache for the GPU |
| Main memory (RAM) | 10-80GB/s | 4-128GB | 30-60ns | ~$2-7/GB | DDR4/5 DRAM | System main storage space |
| GPU VRAM | 768GB/s-4TB/s | 4-24GB | 25-75ns | ~$7-20/GB | GDDR6/6X SDRAM | Dedicated high-speed buffer storage for the GPU |
| SSD | 500MB/s-7000MB/s | 128GB-8TB | 0.03-0.1ms | ~$0.04-0.1/GB | Flash NAND | High-speed solid-state storage |
| HDD | 100-200MB/s | 500GB-20TB | 5-10ms | ~$0.01-0.03/GB | Magnetic disk | Large-capacity, cheap storage |
| Tape | 60-360MB/s | 1.5-30TB | 20-180ms | ~$0.002-0.01/GB | Magnetic tape | Large-capacity, low-cost data backup |
3. Storage Comparison
| Storage Type | Bandwidth | Cost per Unit of Storage ($/GB) |
|---|
| Memory | 20 GB/s | 3 |
| SSD | 2 GB/s | 0.08 |
| HDD | 150 MB/s | 0.03 |
| Tape | 180 MB/s | 0.005 |
OK, let’s do the math.
- Bandwidth cost-effectiveness calculation
| Storage Type | Bandwidth Cost-Effectiveness (GB/s per $/GB) |
|---|
| Memory | 20 / 3 = 6.67 |
| SSD | 2 / 0.08 = 25 |
| HDD | 0.15 / 0.03 = 5 |
| Tape | 0.18 / 0.005 = 36 |
- Bandwidth multiple relationships
| Comparison | Multiple |
|---|
| Memory vs SSD | 10x |
| Memory vs HDD | 133.33x |
| Memory vs Tape | 111.11x |
| SSD vs HDD | 7.5x |
| SSD vs Tape | 1.44x |
| HDD vs Tape | 0.192x |
- Unit cost multiple relationships
| Comparison | Multiple |
|---|
| Memory vs SSD | 12.5x |
| Memory vs HDD | 100x |
| Memory vs Tape | 600x |
| SSD vs HDD | 8x |
| SSD vs Tape | 50x |
| HDD vs Tape | 6.25x |
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