Harnessing MEXT for a Greener Data Center Future

As global data center energy consumption rises, the need for sustainable solutions becomes increasingly urgent. Enter MEXT AI-powered predictive memory, a transformative technology designed to optimize memory allocation, reduce power consumption, and support the data center industry's journey toward carbon neutrality.

The Data Center Sustainability Challenge

Data centers are the backbone of our digital world, powering everything from social media to cloud computing. However, they are extremely energy-intensive, accounting for about 2% of global electricity demand—and this is growing somewhere between 20-40% annually.¹ Key contributors to this energy usage include cooling systems, server operations, and memory storage processes. Memory systems account for 25-40% of this power consumption.²

Traditional memory systems are overprovisioned to handle unpredictable workloads, leading to inefficiencies and wasted energy. This is where MEXT comes into play, introducing a smarter, more sustainable approach to memory management.

What is MEXT Predictive Memory?

MEXT’s predictive memory software leverages AI to optimize memory allocation in real time, dynamically offloading cold / infrequently accessed memory pages to Flash (lower cost and less power-hungry) from DRAM, and then predictively pushing relevant pages back to DRAM before they are needed. By analyzing historical and current workload patterns, MEXT can predict future memory page requirements with high accuracy. This ensures that memory resources are used more efficiently, minimizing idle or overprovisioned memory.

How MEXT Can Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

Because MEXT enables applications to be run within a far smaller DRAM footprint, this eliminates the cost and power inefficiencies that come with overprovisioned DRAM. More efficient memory usage also generates less heat, easing the burden on cooling systems. Since cooling systems account for a significant portion of a data center's energy consumption, this reduction has a meaningful impact on sustainability. Further, optimized memory operations can help reduce wear and tear on hardware, delaying the need for replacements. This decreases the carbon emissions associated with manufacturing and transporting new equipment.

By the Numbers

If we imagine a scenario running 500 servers with 1 TB of DRAM / server, leveraging MEXT enables performance to stay intact with half the DRAM footprint, or 512 GB / server. This translates to approximately a 70% reduction in memory-related power expenditure, which roughly equates to 49.3 tones of CO2 emissions avoided per year. This carbon offset is equivalent of planting 61.7 acres of US forest!^3,4

In some cases, by doubling the memory in the server, MEXT enables total server count to get cut in half. For instance, comparing a scenario running 1000 servers with 500 subsequently eliminated through MEXT, CO2 emissions would decrease by 17,540 MWh and the carbon offset would be equivalent to planting a whopping 6,924 acres of US forest!⁴

Scaling Sustainability with MEXT

Adopting MEXT is a step toward greener IT infrastructure. However, its impact grows synergistically when integrated with other sustainability-focused technologies, such as renewable energy sources and carbon offset programs.

MEXT exemplifies how innovation can drive sustainability in the industry. By optimizing memory operations, it reduces power consumption, lowers carbon emissions, and contributes to a more sustainable digital ecosystem. As data centers continue to expand, it’s crucial to align growth demands with environmental responsibility.