HP continues work on The Machine, prototype expected by 2016

Shawn Knight

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release revolutionary operating system flash nand storage linux hp hard drive memory ram meg whitman carbon memristors the machine

HP is betting that an entirely new type of computer and operating system is the answer to its recent woes. The Machine, as it’s being called, will replace the two types of memory that have been in use since the 1940s with a new technology known as memristors.

The idea for memristors has been around for decades but serious work to make them a reality didn’t start until 2008. Led by HP, memristors are expected to have DRAM-like speeds with storage densities that are better than today’s NAND.

By bringing these two key components together, HP believes it can build a new type of computer that is much more energy efficient and powerful than what currently exists. The Machine could shrink a data center down to the size of a standard refrigerator.

HP’s new system is still several years away but they’ve been working hard to prefect it. HP CEO Meg Whitman has reportedly increased spending and has allocated 75 percent of HP’s 200-person research staff to work on the project.

A working prototype is expected to be ready sometime in 2016 but in the meantime, HP wants researchers and programmers to familiarize themselves with the system. As such, HP is designing a temporary operating system that’ll be ready in June called Linux++. Using software to emulate The Machine, researchers and programmers will be able to see how their code works on the new system before it is ready.

HP ultimately plans to replace Linux++ with a completely new operating system known as Carbon.

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It looks like some bakery deliciousness :) Throw in some peanut butter on top, for extra high performance, and I'm in! ;)
 
75 percent of HP’s 200-person research staff? That seems like a waste... They should have just hired Harold Finch.
 
Nice comparison :) The picture is a microscopic image of an memristor prototype. As far as I know HP is working on it for around the last 20-30 years. Unfortunately the article doesnt't describe it, but the interesting thing about memristors is that one memory cell can save much more than one bit.
Some memristors are programmed by a specific voltage or current. They are then adjusted to a certain electrical resistance which can be accessed using only a small current (you don't have to refresh like DRAM).
With different resistance-values you can save more than one bit at a time depending on the material.
 
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