CXL couldn’t be utilized until there was a server platform that supported it, so we’re very excited to see AMD launch their next-generation Epyc server platform, code-name Genoa. In this episode of Utilizing CXL, Stephen Foskett and Craig Rodgers talk with Mahesh Wagh of AMD and the CXL Consortium about this important release. The first step to bring CXL to market is to prove it is functional and performs well with a mainstream platform like AMD 4th-generation Epyc. AMD is bringing CXL to market as a tiered memory solution that performs similar to as memory on a remote NUMA socket without any special configuration or software. But AMD also supports other memory technologies, including hierarchical memory with software, security, pooling, and even memory sharing with specialized software. Although Epyc is said to only support CXL 1.1, later spec devices will be backwards-compatible and the platform also supports some CXL 2.0 features including global flush for persistent memory, firmware-first error handling, and device-specific capabilities.
- Stephen Foskett, Publisher of Gestalt IT and Organizer of Tech Field Day. Find Stephen’s writing at GestaltIT.com and on Twitter at @SFoskett.
- Craig Rodgers, Solutions Architect at Camlin Group. Connect with Craig on LinkedIn and follow him on Twitter at @CraigRodgersms.
- Mahesh Wagh, Senior Fellow at AMD, Server Systems Architect, Co-chair CXL Consortium Board Technical Task Force. You can connect with Mahesh on LinkedIn.
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