Compute Express Link (CXL) as Scalable and Highly Cost Effective Memory Architecture

Explore how Compute Express Link (CXL) technology revolutionizes memory scaling in modern computing architectures through this 50-minute conference presentation. Examine the critical challenges facing traditional memory architectures as data-intensive applications in graph analytics, machine learning, and recommendation engines demand exponentially increasing memory resources. Analyze current limitations including CPU memory channel constraints and resource utilization inefficiencies, then discover how CXL's innovative protocol stack addresses these issues through its three key components: CXL.IO, CXL.cache, and CXL.mem. Review real experimental data from distributed in-memory database workloads running on clustered platforms with CXL memory expanders, complemented by Samsung Cognos technology, demonstrating a 5x capacity increase while meeting targeted performance and SLA requirements. Understand how CXL represents a fundamental shift in memory architecture design, providing a viable pathway for meeting escalating memory demands of next-generation computing applications while maintaining efficiency and cost-effectiveness. Presented by Pramod Peethambaran from Samsung at SNIA SDC 2025.