DELL EMC PowerEdge Servers with Intel® Optane™ DC Persistent Memory Module Support

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

This article provides information about the persistent memory support on DELL EMC PowerEdge Server.  

Disclaimer: The partner solution referenced in this article is a solution that is developed and supported by the partner. For more information, see http://support.dell.com

Environment

VMware vSphere 6.5.x
VMware vSphere 6.7.x

Resolution

Here is a summary of server architecture, persistent memory components, and support information.

Server Architecture

DELL EMC PowerEdge Servers with Intel® 2nd Generation Intel Xeon® Scalable processors.  

Persistent Memory Components

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

Note: For NVDIMM-N Support, refer to KB54444
 

Server Model	Supported CPU Series	Certified Maximum Capacity in App-Direct Mode (TB)	Certified Maximum Capacity in Memory Mode (TB)
PowerEdge R640	Intel Xeon Platinum 8200 (Cascade Lake-SP) Series Intel Xeon Gold 6200/5200 (Cascade Lake-SP) Series	6	6
PowerEdge R740	Intel Xeon Platinum 8200 (Cascade Lake-SP) Series Intel Xeon Gold 6200/5200 (Cascade Lake-SP) Series	6	6
PowerEdge R740XD	Intel Xeon Platinum 8200  (Cascade Lake-SP) Series Intel Xeon Gold 6200/5200 (Cascade Lake-SP) Series	6	6
PowerEdge MX740c	Intel Xeon Platinum 8200  (Cascade Lake-SP) Series Intel Xeon Gold 6200/5200 (Cascade Lake-SP) Series	6	6
PowerEdge R840	Intel Xeon Platinum 8200  (Cascade Lake-SP) Series Intel Xeon Gold 6200/5200 (Cascade Lake-SP) Series	12	12
PowerEdge R940	Intel Xeon Platinum 8200 (Cascade Lake-SP) Series Intel Xeon Gold 6200/5200 (Cascade Lake-SP) Series	12	12
PowerEdge R940xa	Intel Xeon Platinum 8200 (Cascade Lake-SP) Series Intel Xeon Gold 6200/5200 (Cascade Lake-SP) Series	12	12
PowerEdge MX840c	Intel Xeon Platinum 8200  (Cascade Lake-SP) Series Intel Xeon Gold 6200/5200 (Cascade Lake-SP) Series	12	12

 
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 Patch 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.

Additional Configuration Details

Component	Required Minimum Firmware Version
	R740, R740XD With 2nd Generation Intel Xeon(Cascade Lake-SP) Platinum 8200 Series and Intel Xeon Gold 6200/5200 Series	R940 With 2nd Generation Intel Xeon (Cascade Lake-SP) Platinum 8200 Series and Intel Xeon Gold 6200/5200 Series	MX740c With 2nd Generation Intel Xeon (Cascade Lake-SP) Platinum 8200 Series and Intel Xeon Gold 6200/5200 Series	R640, R840, R940xa Intel Xeon Platinum 8200 (Cascade Lake-SP)  Series Intel Xeon Gold 6200/5200 (Cascade Lake-SP) Series	MX840c With 2nd Generation Intel Xeon (Cascade Lake-SP) Platinum 8200 Series and Intel Xeon Gold 6200/5200 Series
BIOS	2.2.10	2.2.10	2.3.10	2.3.10	2.8.2
CPLD	1.0.8	1.0.4	1.0.5	1.0.6	1.0.5
Intel® Optane™ DC Persistent Memory Module FW	5375	5375	5375	5375	5474
iDRAC	3.34.34.34	3.34.34.34	3.36.36.36	3.36.36.36	4.22.00.00

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. 

Dell Customer Advisory
BIOS version 2.9.2 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 

For more information on DELL EMC Intel® Optane™ DC Persistent Memory support see http://support.dell.com