The SQL Server memory manager consists of a three-layer hierarchy. At the bottom of the hierarchy are memory nodes. The next level consists of memory clerks, memory caches, and memory pools. The last layer consists of memory objects. These objects are generally used to allocate memory in an instance of SQL Server.
Memory nodes provide the interface and the implementation for low-level allocators. Inside SQL Server, only memory clerks have access to memory nodes. Memory clerks access memory node interfaces to allocate memory. Memory nodes also track the memory allocated by using the clerk for diagnostics. Every component that allocates a significant amount of memory must create its own memory clerk and allocate all its memory by using the clerk interfaces. Components create their corresponding clerks at the time SQL Server is started.