Arvind Jagannath of VMware makes the case for bridging the CPU-Memory imbalance with memory tiering, describes their vision for memory disaggregation, and explains that VMware will support CXL Expanders – Specific Configurations, Memory Tiering to reduce overall TCO, and Memory Accelerators to enable CXL-based use-cases.

1. 1 Broadcom Proprietary and Confidential. Copyright © 2023 Broadcom. All Rights Reserved. The term “Broadcom” refers to Broadcom Inc. and/or its subsidiaries.
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Broadcom Proprietary and Confidential. Copyright © 2023 Broadcom. All Rights Reserved. The term “Broadcom” refers to Broadcom Inc. and/or its subsidiaries.
VMware Memory Vision
Q1 2024
Date: 02/08/24
CXL For the Enterprise

2. 2 Broadcom Proprietary and Confidential. Copyright © 2023 Broadcom. All Rights Reserved. The term “Broadcom” refers to Broadcom Inc. and/or its subsidiaries.
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Disclaimer
• This presentation contains statements which are intended to outline the general direction of certain of
VMware's offerings and is being presented under strict confidentiality agreements (NDA).
• It is intended for information purposes only and may not be incorporated into any contract.
• Any information regarding the pre-release of VMware offerings, future updates or other planned
modifications is subject to ongoing evaluation by VMware and is subject to change.
• All software releases are on an if and when available basis and are subject to change.
• This information is provided without warranty or any kind, express or implied, and is not a commitment to
deliver any material, code, or functionality, and should not be relied upon in making purchasing decisions
regarding VMware offerings.
• Any purchasing decisions should only be based on features currently available.
• The development, release, and timing of any features or functionality described for VMware's offerings in this
presentation remain at the sole discretion of VMware.
• Any customer data presented here should be used only for the sole purpose of the collaboration with VMware

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Bridging the CPU-Memory imbalance
CPU DRAM
Without Tiering With Tiering
Overprovision (or overcommit) Overprovision (or overcommit)
(Active Hot & Cold Page Replacements)
VMware Active Memory
usage is typically ~50%
Tier-2
Case for Memory Tiering

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Customer Value Prop – How Memory Tiering reduces Total Server Costs
1TB DRAM + 1TB on Accelerator
Host configuration (DRAM + Accelerator) List Price1
CPU 2 x 6348 (28C @ 2.6GHz) $6,144*
DRAM 1024GB (32 x 32GB) $29,184
Board 1024GB <$2048
Emulex LPE36002
Dual port HBA
64Gb FC
$1,230
Storage capacity 2 X 3.84TB vSAS (7.68TB) $3,600
Software vSphere ENT+ $3,500
Total $45,706
2TB DRAM (Socket attached)
Host configuration (DRAM only) List Price1
CPU 2 x 6348 (28C @ 2.6GHz) $6,144*
DRAM/Pooling 2048GB (32 x 64GB) $58,368
Lower-cost
Memory
- -
Emulex LPE36002
Dual port HBA
64Gb FC $1,230
Storage capacity 2 X 3.84TB vSAS (7.68TB) $3,600
Software vSphere ENT+ $3,500
Total $72,842
*Estimated
1 https://www.dell.com/en-us/work/shop/cty/pdp/spd/poweredge-r750/pe_r750_14794_vi_vp?configurationid=b605e5ac-c8b9-4578-b0e2-7d9b15772b04
Your costs and results may vary
Up to 37% Cost Reduction with 1:1 DRAM: VMware Accelerator
(19% with NVMe-based tiering)
1.5TB DRAM + 0.5TB NVMe
Host configuration (DRAM + NVMe) List Price1
CPU 2 x 6348 (28C @ 2.6GHz) $6,144*
DRAM 1536GB $43,776
Lower-cost
Memory (3:1)
512GB $512
Emulex LPE36002
Dual port HBA
64Gb FC $1,230
Storage capacity 2 X 3.84TB vSAS (7.68TB) $3,600
Software vSphere ENT+ $3,500
Total $58,432

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Vision for Memory Disaggregation – Building for the future
CXL Memory Expansion/
Tiering CXL Type-2 Memory Accelerator Disaggregated/Composable Memory
Memory
Pool
Distributed
Resource
Scheduler
Evolve into Hypervisor offload device that abstracts – memory, storage, networking, compute
• Memory Expansion/Tiering
• vMotion Perf
• Memory Pooling/Disaggregation
• Cloud and Edge Computing
• Application Memory (Larger AI models..)
• Offloads - storage, networking use-cases
• Accelerator as a platform
• Fully integrated hardware virtualization
Type-2 Accelerator Type-2 Accelerator

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CXL Type-2 Accelerator at a High-level
Type-2 Accelerator
Host/Server
with DDR Memory
CXL
o Provide lower TCO by (50%) DRAM substitution
o Improve capacity and bandwidth
o Improve host CPU core utilization
o CPU Savings from page tracking/transfer offloads
Reduce CapEx
Reduce OpEx
o Improve OpEx by improving vMotion speeds
o Reduce failure probability
o Proactive transfer of cold pages
o Reduce host evacuation time for maintenance
Other future use-cases
o Pooling/sharing
o Remote mem tiering (stranded mem)
o Memory tracking/scrubbing & proactive maint.
o App-specific acceleration (AI/ML, Analytics)
o Virtualizing hardware
Hardware-Software Co-design:
• Low jitter
• No page fault
• CPU Offload
• Granular memory tracking
Single Uniform Address Space

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NVMe Tiering & Accelerator (Two solutions to improve TCO & utility, scale capacity)
Type-2 Accelerator Type-2 Accelerator

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Summary & Call To Action
VMware will support:
• CXL Expanders – Specific Configurations
• Memory Tiering to reduce overall TCO
• Memory Accelerators to enable CXL-based use-cases
Please contact Arvind Jagannath if interested in partnerships/POCs on one or more the above:
arvind.jagannath@broadcom.com
VCF Product Management

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Broadcom Proprietary and Confidential. Copyright © 2023 Broadcom. All Rights Reserved. The term “Broadcom” refers to Broadcom Inc. and/or its subsidiaries.
Thanks