SMART Modular Technologies, a provider of memory solutions and a division of SGH (Nasdaq: SGH), has unveiled its innovative Add-In Cards (AICs) that integrate the Compute Express Link (CXL) standard, a significant advancement in memory technology. This marks the introduction of one of the first high-density DIMM AICs leveraging the CXL protocol, designed to enhance memory capacity and performance in server and data center environments.
The new family of products includes the SMART 4-DIMM and 8-DIMM AICs, which allow for up to 4TB of memory expansion in a user-friendly form factor. These AICs would represent a breakthrough in server architecture, making it simpler for data center architects to scale memory resources effectively.
According to industry forecasts, the demand for CXL memory components is set to increase sharply, with projections indicating that initial production shipments will begin in late 2024. Revenue from these components is expected to exceed $2 billion by 2026. Additionally, CXL adoption in the server market is anticipated to hit a 30% attach rate, encompassing both memory expansion and pooling scenarios.
Mike Howard, Vice President of DRAM and Memory Markets at TechInsights, highlighted the potential growth in the CXL memory market, noting the significant advancements it brings to data center applications. ‘The CXL protocol is crucial for achieving memory disaggregation and sharing on an industry-wide scale, which will transform memory deployment in the near future,” Mr. Howard explained.
Andy Mills, Senior Director of Advanced Product Development at SMART Modular, echoed Howard’s sentiments, emphasizing the strategic importance of their new CXL-enabled products. “The introduction of CXL is a pivotal development towards standardizing how memory is disaggregated and shared, improving operational efficiency in data centers,” said Mr. Mills.
The SMART 4-DIMM and 8-DIMM AICs utilize advanced CXL controllers to address the challenges of memory bandwidth bottlenecks and capacity constraints commonly faced in compute-intensive applications such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), High Performance Computing (HPC), and Machine Learning (ML). These applications would increasingly demand substantial amounts of high-speed memory, which traditional servers struggle to accommodate due to CPU pin limitations. The CXL-based solutions would offer a more pin-efficient alternative, facilitating greater memory expansion without the constraints of traditional DIMM-based interfaces.
As the industry continues to evolve, SMART Modular’s latest offerings are set to play a crucial role in enabling data centers to meet the growing demands for more powerful and efficient memory solutions, paving the way for more innovative and scalable server architectures.
Technical Specifications
Regarding the 4-DIMM and 8-DIMM DDR5 AICs that SMART offers:
- The type 3 PCIe Gen5 Full Height, Half Length (FHHL) PCIe form factor is available for customers to choose from
- When utilizing 512GB RDIMMs, the 4-DIMM AIC (CXA-4F1W) can handle four DDR5 RDIMMs with a maximum capacity of 2TB of memory, and the 8-DIMM AIC (CXA-8F2W) can accommodate eight DDR5 RDIMMs with a maximum capacity of 4TB of memory space respectively
- The 4-DIMM AIC makes use of a single CXL controller to facilitate the implementation of one x16 CXL port, whilst the 8-DIMM AIC makes use of two CXL controllers to facilitate the implementation of two x8 ports, resulting in a total bandwidth of 64GB/s for both options
- Features known as ‘Reliability, Availability, and Serviceability’ (RAS) are supported by the CXL controllers, in addition to sophisticated analytics technologies
- In-band or side band (SMBus) monitoring capabilities are included in each of these products, which offer increased security measures
- These add-in cards are compatible with SMART’s Zefr ZDIMMs, which have the ability to speed up the processing of memory
Additionally, CXL would make it possible to scale memory capacity at a reduced cost. By utilizing Smart‘s AICs, servers would be able to achieve up to 1 terabyte of memory per CPU while utilizing 64 gigabyte RDIMMs that are cost reasonable. In addition to this, they would provide a chance for supply chain optimization. There is a possibility that, depending on the current state of the market, replacing high density RDIMMs with a higher number of modules with lower density might result in cheaper system memory prices.
