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First Dual Quad Core ATX System
Dedicated servers use a different type of memory than regular PCs and this is where you usually have to pay a premium for non-consumer level RAM. The difference is in the design but before we get into the difference in design let us look at why people who run dedicated servers in a work environment have to have this type of RAM.
If you are playing a video game or posting to your Blog and a memory error occurs it is not a big deal in fact it may go unnoticed, with no consequences. But if you are compiling software, or storing mission critical information the difference between a 0 and a 1 mix up can be unacceptable. This is where the more expensive and generally slightly slower memory for dedicated servers or any mission critical server or workstation comes in. To correct these types of errors there are a number of different methods ECC stands for Error Correcting Codes, there is also Parity RAM.
We now have a faster yet still slightly slower than non error correcting memory called FB DIMMS which have a special AMB controller onboard the DIMM that allos the memory to be read from and written to at the same time through the use of buffering. Because it is buffered it has slightly slower latency than regular DDR2 SDRAM. But for high end servers dedicated to data integrity this is very useful. I think that the FB DIMMS I purchased for my two Dedicated Servers running Folding@home and rosetta@home this memory will help with the accuracy of their work.
Repeatable hard memory errors – generally these are due to some hardware failure such as a bit that is either stuck in the 1 or the 0 position or a motherboard problem, a blown RAM chip, loose contacts with the DIMM, etc… The good news is since these errors are repeatable they can be predicted and corrected.
Soft memory errors – these are very common and unpredictable unlike hard memory errors. Computers serving important application generally us error correcting code RAM to offset the soft memory issues.
Even if you do not have mission critical committed servers, but regular run of the mill computer workstations or mainstream PCs that require high reliability you can get ECC RAM for them and that will give you a little added protection. Just make sure that you have all matching Memory, becuase if you combing non error correcting with ECC your computer system will default to the non ECC.