The Machine was first announced by HP last year, as a response to the rapid rate of data growth in recent years, and concerns that current infrastructure won’t be able to keep up with demand towards the end of this decade. The new supercomputer is reportedly able to store huge amounts of data while taking up a minimal amount of physical space.
In fact, it seems that a refrigerator-sized system will be able to do the work of an entire data center thanks to the technology being pioneered via The Machine. If the finished product can live up to the company’s ambitions, it could be incredibly impactful on the way businesses handle their data.
However, the tech isn’t quite ready for a full unveiling just yet. HP is still working on the ‘memristors’ that make the advances The Machine offers possible, but the prototype set for 2016 will use DRAM in their place to give developers the opportunity to work on software to be used in conjunction with the system.
As such, the prototype won’t be as powerful as the final version looks set to be, but the fact that HP is looking to start the development process now speaks volumes about the confidence the company has in the project’s success. While we might have to wait another five years for memristors to become viable for widespread usage, all signs point to The Machine living up to the hype when it eventually sees release.
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