MetaRAM has announced the launch of DDR2 MetaSDRAM, a new memory technology that claims to increase server and workstation performance while decreasing costs by up to 90 percent.

The MetaSDRAM chipset combines four separate 1GB DDR2 SDRAMs into a single virtual 4GB DDR2 SDRAM that acts exactly as a monolithic 4GB DDR2 MetaSDRAM would.

To explain simply, the chipset is a drop-in solution that sits between the memory controller and the DRAM, and solves the memory capacity problem cost-effectively by enabling up to four times more mainstream DRAMs to be integrated into existing DIMMs without the need for any hardware or software changes.

The chipset makes multiple DRAMs look like a larger capacity DRAM to the memory controller. The result is "stealth" high-capacity memory that circumvents the normal limitations set by the memory controller.

One of the main features of the chipset include WakeOnUse power management, a dynamic command scheduler that ensures compatibility with JEDEC DDR2 protocol, low latency circuit design, and a split-bus stacked DRAM design for flexible access of the multiple DRAMs in a stack.

The new chipset is designed for AMD Opteron and Intel Xeon-based systems, and is currently available in R-DIMMs from two manufacturing partners, Hynix and SMART Modular.

MetaRAM expects to see servers and workstations that include MetaSDRAM to be available from Appro, Colfax International, Rackable Systems, and Verari Systems in the first quarter (Jan to Mar) of 2008.