time
Storage? I am Storage!
This is a serious question for thinking minds.
We've all been raised on the principle that servers need error-checked RAM but client PCs don't. I've seen papers that point to a PC with 8GB RAM experiencing a soft error (due to cosmic rays at sea level) about once a day (some claim much more, but let's try to be realistic here).
The thing is, Intel has obviously decided that's bullsh*t, because none of their extensive i-core series support ECC RAM. Not even their most expensive 6-core (12 if you believe in hyperthreading) CPU.
Xeon still does, but it's optional. Unsurprisingly then, you have to work at it to even find DDR3 RAM with ECC.
What the hell is going on here? Personally, I suspect that cosmic rays are likely to affect far more than 1 bit per 32 or 64-bit word. So unless you're on super high-end hardware with 'chipkill', perhaps ECC - with its extremely limited correction ability of just a single bit - is more or less a waste of time?
We've all been raised on the principle that servers need error-checked RAM but client PCs don't. I've seen papers that point to a PC with 8GB RAM experiencing a soft error (due to cosmic rays at sea level) about once a day (some claim much more, but let's try to be realistic here).
The thing is, Intel has obviously decided that's bullsh*t, because none of their extensive i-core series support ECC RAM. Not even their most expensive 6-core (12 if you believe in hyperthreading) CPU.
Xeon still does, but it's optional. Unsurprisingly then, you have to work at it to even find DDR3 RAM with ECC.
What the hell is going on here? Personally, I suspect that cosmic rays are likely to affect far more than 1 bit per 32 or 64-bit word. So unless you're on super high-end hardware with 'chipkill', perhaps ECC - with its extremely limited correction ability of just a single bit - is more or less a waste of time?