Logical Memory Pools: Flexible and Local Disaggregated Memory

We propose logical memory pools, a memory disaggregation architecture for the emerging Compute Express Link (CXL) technology in datacenters. The key idea is to create a memory pool by carving out parts of the local memory in each server, rather than using a physicalmemorypool that is separate from servers. Logical pools provide significant benefits over physical pools, namely, lower cost, support for near-memory computing without extra hardware, and flexibility on designating whethermemoryis part of thememorypool or not. Wedemonstrate that logical pools can executeworkloads that are unfeasible in physical pools, and that its faster access leads to better performance. Realizing logicalmemory pools poses five major challenges, whichwe believe can be overcome. Given the benefits of logical pools, we believe the CXL community should refocus efforts on logical, rather than physical memory pools.