{
  "id": 4806559,
  "title": "If hardware price squeezes make you sad, VMware says it will all end in tiers",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/01/if-hardware-price-squeezes-make-you-sad-vmware-says-it-will-all-end",
  "topic": "science",
  "section": "Science",
  "published": "2026-09-01T05:06:48.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Register Science",
    "slug": "the-register-science",
    "url": "https://www.theregister.com/virtualization/2026/09/01/if-hardware-price-squeezes-make-you-sad-vmware-says-it-will-all-end-in-tiers/5293575"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "VMware is exploring new uses for its memory tiering technology as memory and hardware prices remain elevated, prompting customers to postpone server purchases. The technology relocates data from DRAM to a faster storage medium, enabling faster CPU access and maintaining application performance. VMware's memory tiering identifies \"cold pages\" – data that a CPU hasn't accessed or won't need soon – and moves them to NVMe drives. Introduced in 2022, VMware enhanced memory tiering in the latest Cloud Foundation update to improve database performance and provide management tools. The tech currently supports around 75% of workloads and aims to expand that to cover Microsoft's Radius cloud-native platform and large VMs. With vMotion, it allows VMs to move between clusters with minimal downtime. VMware recommends using drives with a DWPD of at least 3 and a 1:1 ratio, leading to reduced CPU cycles and lower cost of ownership. The company believes memory tiering can extend server life and defer hardware purchases, addressing the long lead times and high costs in the server market. VMware's memory tiering has generated significant interest among customers and prospects, as evident from the filled conference rooms at VMware Explore.",
  "summary": "Virtzilla finding more ways to pull data out of DRAM to enable ‘densification’ and dodge the RAMpocalypse",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}