Intel® Server System S2600BP Family with Intel® Optane™ DC Persistent Memory Module Support

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

This article provides information about the persistent memory support on the Intel® Server System S2600BP Family.

Disclaimer:  The partner solution referenced in this article is a solution that is developed and supported by the partner. For more information, see Intel® S2600BP Family.

Environment

VMware vSphere ESXi 6.7

Resolution

This document provides a summary of server architecture, persistent memory components, and support information for the Intel® S2600BP.

Server Architecture

The Intel® S2600BP product family is built with the latest 2nd Generation Intel® Xeon® Scalable processor family. This latest generation processor is designed for performance with high scalability and resiliency with no I/O compromise, and supports a wide range of existing and emerging workloads. The Intel® S2600BP product family uses a number of key processor advancements:

• 2nd Generation Intel® Xeon® Scalable processor
• Support for Intel® Optane™ DC Persistent Memory

Persistent Memory Components

One Intel® Optane™ DC Persistent Memory Module is supported per memory channel with the types and capabilities as described in the tables below.

Persistent Memory Modules

Persistent Memory Type	Module Description
Intel® Optane™ DC Persistent Memory	Intel® Optane™ DC Persistent Memory 100 Series, 512GB
Intel® Optane™ DC Persistent Memory	Intel® Optane™ DC Persistent Memory 100 Series, 256GB
Intel® Optane™ DC Persistent Memory	Intel® Optane™ DC Persistent Memory100 Series, 128GB

Configuration Maximums

Server Model	Supported CPU Series	Certified Maximum Capacity in App-Direct Mode (TB)	Certified Maximum Capacity in Memory Mode (TB)
S2600BPB	Intel Xeon Platinum 8200 (Cascade-Lake-SP) Series Intel Xeon Gold 6200/5200 (Cascade Lake-SP) Series	2	2
S2600BPS	Intel Xeon Platinum 8200 (Cascade-Lake-SP) Series Intel Xeon Gold 6200/5200 (Cascade Lake-SP) Series	2	2
S2600BPBR	Intel Xeon Platinum 8200 (Cascade-Lake-SP) Series Intel Xeon Gold 6200/5200 (Cascade Lake-SP) Series	2	2

Note:

• All servers that support Intel Optane DC Persistent Memory supports the following NVDIMM Platform Capabilities:
  • Memory Controller Flush to NVDIMM Durability on Power Loss Capable
• The ACPI Specification 6.2 defines in section 5.2.20.4 the NVDIMM Platform Capabilities:
  1. CPU Cache Flush to NVDIMM Durability on Power Loss Capable
  2. Memory Controller Flush to NVDIMM Durability on Power Loss Capable
  3. Byte Addressable Persistent Memory Hardware Mirroring Capable
• The certified maximum persistent memory capacity is based on installed memory capacity.  There is a small difference between installed persistent memory capacity and amount available to ESXi because the system reserves some memory for internal use.
• App-Direct Mode is supported in vSphere 6.7 U2 + Express Path 10(ESXi670-201906002) or later.
• Memory Mode is supported in:
  • vSphere 6.5 U3 or later
  • vSphere 6.7 U2 + Express Path 10(ESXi670-201906002) or later
    • Earlier 6.7 releases are not supported.

Support Information

vSphere Support for Intel Optane Persistent Memory 100 Series

Persistent Memory certified servers with Intel Optane persistent memory 100 series and 2nd Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors in select configurations, as documented in vSphere Support for Intel's Optane Persistent Memory (PMEM) , are eligible for VMware support.

Balanced Profile optimizes Memory Mode performance by balancing the thresholds between DRAM and Intel Optane PMem to improve the bandwidth for all DRAM cache misses while maintaining the performance of DRAM cache hits. Balanced profile enabled BIOS has shown better performance in memory mode workloads.   For more information on balanced profile BIOS support, please contact your server vendor. 

Intel Customer Advisory
BIOS version SE5C620.86B.02.01.0014.082620210524 or later is required to support Balanced Profile referenced in  vSphere Support for Intel's Optane Persistent Memory (PMEM) .

Intel® Optane™ Persistent Memory 100 Series “Memory Mode” Production Deployment Advisory

Customers interested in using Intel’s Optane persistent memory 100 series in “Memory” mode on the above-certified OEM servers with configurations not published in  vSphere Support for Intel's Optane Persistent Memory (PMEM) , must contact VMware to file an intent for production deployment request.

At present, production deployment of unpublished configurations requires explicit approval from VMware for support. VMware will continue to work with its customers and ecosystem to adjust the criteria for production deployments. For more information, customers should contact VMware representative.

Troubleshooting and Best Practices

To ensure the best user experience and reliability only specified system configurations are supported at this time.  All unsupported configurations will keep the platform from booting.

Consult the Product Spec Update at available here  for further support details. 

For more information on Intel persistent memory support, click here .

 

 

Additional Information

For a current list of known issues for Intel® S2600BP with Intel® Optane™ DC Persisent Memory, click here.