An in-memory data grid (IMDG) is a special type of Data grid. In an IMDG, each server uses its main system memory (RAM) as primary storage for data (as opposed to disk-based storage). This allows for much greater concurrency, as lock-free STM techniques such as compare-and-swap can be used to allow hardware threads accessing concurrent datasets. As such, IMDGs are often considered far better optimized for a multi-core and multi-CPU world when compared to disk-based solutions. In addition to greater concurrency, IMDGs offer far lower latency access to data (even when compared to disk-based data grids using solid state drives).

The tradeoff is capacity. Disk-based grids, due to the far greater capacity of hard disks, exhibit two (or even three) orders of magnitude greater capacity for the same hardware cost.