NUMA, or Non-Uniform Memory Access, is a computer memory design used in multiprocessor systems. In a NUMA architecture, each processor has its own local memory, which it can access faster than memory located in other processors. This design helps improve performance by reducing memory access times for local data. In a NUMA system, the memory is divided into nodes, with each node containing one or more processors and their associated memory. This structure allows for efficient data processing, as processors can quickly access their local memory while still being able to reach memory from other nodes when necessary.