This week at Oracle OpenWorld, STEC introduced a DRAM-based, Flash-backed, 6Gbps SAS SSD packaged in a 3.5-inch form factor. The ZeusRAM drive uses DRAM as the primary storage mechanism, which drops data latency below 23 microseconds (fast, fast, fast). For data permanence, STEC’s press release says that the DRAM is “fully backed up” by the Flash. Most likely, the drive contains enough energy storage, possibly in the form of ultracapacitors or a battery, to sustain the transfer of all stored data from DRAM to Flash after an imminent power failure is detected. The drive is already sampling.