E-Guide

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TWO SERVER
MEMORY TYPES
SHAKING UP
PERFORMANCE
EXPECTATIONS
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 TWO SERVER MEMORY TYPES SHAKING UP PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS

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Two Server Memory

Types Shaking
Up Performance
Expectations

M EMORY MANUFACTURERS ARE getting creative

for high performance. High Bandwidth
Memory (HBM) and Hybrid Memory
Cube (HMC) module could appear in the
next generation of servers. This exclusive e-guide details each new
memory type and how they’re shaking up performance expectations.

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TWO SERVER MEMORY TYPES SHAKING UP

PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS
Stephen Bigelow, Senior Technology Editor, TechTarget/
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Two Server Memory
Types Shaking
Up Performance Data center hardware buyers should evaluate two emerging server memory
Expectations
types poised to arrive in future high-performance systems.
High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) is a high-performance interface intended
to support data throughputs for memory devices that push beyond fast memory
in conventional forms.
Hybrid Memory Cube (HMC) technology brings memory performance be-
yond conventional high bandwidth memory designs, such as double data rate
third and fourth generation (DDR3 and DDR4), but the two approaches differ
technologically and in how they improve server memory performance.

HIGH BANDWIDTH MEMORY IN FUTURE SERVERS

The idea of HBM is straightforward: bring the memory devices closer together
and closer to the CPU or GPU. Current computer designs generally segregate

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memory and computing chips by placing memory modules in groups of slots

located on the motherboard. This type of server memory places practical limits
on clock frequencies, holding back the amount of data that can move in each
clock cycle.
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Two Server Memory TAKE A DEEP DIVE INTO SERVER MEMORY TYPES
Types Shaking
Up Performance Now that you’ve familiarized yourself with these two specific server memory
Expectations
types, take a step back and learn what affects memory performance in the
evolving IT space.
The HBM methodology stacks memory chips in a matrix, then assembles
the processor and memory stack together to essentially form one component
that goes onto a server motherboard.
HBM stacks are not physically integrated with the CPU and GPU, instead
using an interposer. However, HBM is indistinguishable from integrated, on-
chip (on-processor) memory approaches, according to assertions by propo-
nents such as semiconductor maker AMD.
So how big a deal is HBM? An HBM module can far exceed the bandwidth
of conventional memory while operating at a lower frequency and with less
power. For example, a typical graphics DDR5 package uses a 32-bit bus running

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up to 1,750 MHz at 1.5 volts for a bandwidth of up to 28 GB per second. An HBM

package uses a 1,024 bit bus running at only up to 500 MHz and 1.3 V to achieve
bandwidths over 100 GB, according to AMD research. And HBM offers the ver-
satility to work with CPU or emerging GPU-enabled servers. Future servers
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may see some permutation of HBM serving both CPUs and GPUs.
Two Server Memory
Types Shaking
Up Performance HOW DOES HYBRID MEMORY CUBE AFFECT FUTURE SERVERS?
Expectations
Conventional server memory types, such as DIMM, use a parallel interface on
the server’s motherboard to connect individual chips. Hybrid Memory Cube,
on the other hand, works by stacking memory chips into vertical assemblies to
create 3-D arrays with serial memory access. Those arrays add a logic layer to
manage the memory, and the server manufacturer can install each assembly
close to the processor. This near-memory or short-reach design is more com-
mon and offers higher performance than an alternative far-memory architec-
ture that targets power efficiency.
Hybrid Memory Cubes can be chained together in links of up to eight
packages. HMCs offer 15 times the bandwidth, 70% less energy use and a 90%
smaller physical footprint than DDR3 memory devices, according to the Hybrid
Memory Cube Consortium, a supplier group that promotes the technological

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standard. For example, Micron’s 2 GB and 4 GB HMC product technologies

tout bandwidths of 120 GB and 160 GB, respectively. HMC products are avail-
able now, and devices like Intel’s Xeon Phi graphics co-processor use HMC
technology which boasts memory throughput about 50 percent higher than
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GDDR5 memory devices.
Two Server Memory HMC competes with HBM, and the two technologies are not compatible.
Types Shaking
Up Performance
Expectations

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