CXL Memory Module - Box (CMM-B)

Orchestrating the myriad of memory options available from Samsung has just gotten easier and more efficient. Samsung has developed a CXL memory module that occupies its own slot in a storage rack called CXL Memory Module – Box (CMM-B). CMM-B integrates into Supermicro Plug and Play Rack Scale Solutions to enable faster time to productivity with reduced TCO.

Rack scale composable memory bank solution is the industry’s first Rack-Level Memory Solution for highly scalable and composable disaggregated memory infrastructure. It offers flexible memory resources allocation by leveraging CMM-B and memory pooling to seamlessly scale memory capacity and bandwidth. With this composable memory architecture, memory stranding will be avoided and on-demand memory capacity and bandwidth expansion is enabled. The solution is composed of rack scale memory bank (CMM-B), multiple application hosts and Samsung Cognos management console, and a ToR switch. The rack scale solution accelerates time-to-operation of CMM-B integrated Rack Scale Solution. This solution is co-developed through great collaboration between Samsung and Supermicro.

What Is CMM-B?

It is a memory pooling appliance for rack computing that leverages Compute Express Link (CXL). CMM-B enables flexible allocation of memory resources by supporting the connection of up to 24 E3.S CXL Memory Module - DRAM (CMM-D) connected in the rack appliance. This technology creates a memory architecture that provides the following:

Disaggregated memory allocation - Exposes memory capacity available in disaggregated memory bank as a pool of memory and shares it across multiple servers over the CXL. This architecture decouples the available compute and memory resources, enabling independent resource allocation in the rack cluster.

Composable memory orchestration – Allows for pools of memory to be combined and shared across multiple hosts.

Extensible memory expansion – Enables combining available memory together so that larger pools of memory can be created and assigned to where it is needed.

CMM-B comes ready to use with Samsung’s Cognos Management Console (SCMC) software that is pre-installed with an easy-to-use intuitive interface. This enables rapid set-up of the Rack-Scale server appliance and accelerates the time-to-operation.

CMM-B Features and Benefits

The Rack-Scale hardware includes a TOR switch, CMM-B appliances, application servers and Samsung Cognos Management Console. It provides the infrastructure for a complete memory server solution.

Having all the hardware and software in one rack space allows for fast, easy to use memory allocation. But, that is only one of many benefits of CMM-B.

• Rack Scale Management
  Integration of Samsung Cognos Management Console with a Rack-Scale Management solution (for example, Supermicro’s SuperCloud Composer) enables CMM-B to be composable.
  
  
• Advanced Memory Pooling
  The CMM-B enables advanced memory pooling solutions designed for computing environments that utilize Compute Express Link (CXL) technology. It is compatible with CXL1.1 and CXL 2.0 protocols which allows devices to be attached to hosts and managed through the REST API when connected to the SCMC console.
  
  
• Scalable Device Configuration
  Both capacity and bandwidth can be expanded by allocating more memory from CMM-B. It enables the integration of CMM-D devices with capacities of up to 24TB and supports up to three hosts with the ability to scale their capacity and bandwidth.
  
  
• Increased Power Efficiency
  The SoC switch chip ensures power efficiency through the CXL 1.1 and 2.0 protocols. The SoC chip helps to lower the total cost of ownership TCO by keeping power usage at minimal levels.
  
  
• Dynamic Memory Allocation
  A highlighted feature of CMM-B is the Samsung Cognos Management Console SCMC software. The software comes with the ability to allocate memory independently of the server it is attached to. The seamless integration of SCMC agents on the application modules ensures the flexibility to allocate memory where it is needed to meet system and application requirements. The uniqueness of SCMC’s ability to provide a coherent and Graphical User Interface (GUI) with REST API not only minimizes the effort often required to configure and manage memory but also enables orchestration of heterogenous memory devices.
  
  
• Analytics for Memory Allocation
  The SCMC agents are installed on the application modules in the rack-scale configuration. The software is equipped with a dashboard that allows for the visualization of the CMM devices, switches and hosts which allows for an accurate depiction of how well balanced and efficiently allocated the memory is. These analytics will give an accurate picture of where changes in the memory configurations may be needed.
  
  
• Easy-to-Use Software
  The software tools that come with CMM-B are state-of-art and allow for dynamic discovery and effortless leveraging of the CXL memory stack within a rack-scale configuration. Taking more of the data processing and placing it in and around the memory modules is reshaping the way computing will be done in this new AI era. Samsung’s Memory Module solutions are expanding and making it easier than ever to manage, expand and fully utilize memory resources within today’s data centers.