Memory expansion technology (MXT): Competitive impact

Abstract

Memory Expansion Technology (MXT™) has been discussed in a number of forums. It is a hardware-implemented means for software-transparent on-the-fly compression of the main-memory content of a computer system. For a very broad set of workloads, it provides a compression ratio of 2:1 or better. This ability to compress and store data in fewer bytes effectively doubles the apparent capacity of memory at minimal cost. While it is clear that a doubling of memory at little cost is bound to improve the price/performance of a system that can be offered to customers, the magnitude of the impact of MXT on price/performance has not been quantified. This paper estimates the range of price/performance improvements for typical workloads from available data. To summarize, the results indicate that MXT improves price/performance by 25% to 70%. The competitive impact of such a large step function in price/performance from a single technology is profound; it is comparable to the entire gross margin in the competitive market for "PC servers".