This FAQ Entry provides information about Intel Persistent Memory (Optane DCPDIMM) support on SuperMicro Servers.
On DP X11 starting with BIOS 3.4 there is a new menu item in the BIOS under:
Chipset Configuration -> Northbridge -> Memory Configuration
called "VMWare PMem Support". Enabling this feature will make all of the error reporting and maintenance features for vSphere work properly.
There is also an additional minimum required CPLD, since X11 was around before the Optane DIMMs were spec'd, there is a fix to the ADR feature that is required. On the X11DPU the minimum CPLD for supporting these DIMMs is "03B00A02".
The default mode for the DCPDIMMs is going to be memory mode (2LM), replacing the RDIMM capacity in the system with the total DCPDIMM size. You will need to do the following to enable Appdirect mode in the BIOS:
Enabling AppDirect on new DIMMs:
Go to Advanced -> Intel(R) Optane(TM) DC Persistent Memory Configuration -> Regions
It should be empty. If it is not see the section at the bottom "Clearing the PMem configuration."
go to "Create Goal Config" and set
-a Platform (All CPU's on the system) Goal.
-0% reserved
-0% Memory mode
-Persistent Memory Type: App Direct
-Namespace 1.2
then "Create goal config"
Secure Erasing a DCPDIMM:
Go to Advanced -> Intel(R) Optane(TM) DC Persistent Memory Configuration -> DIMMs
Either select a specific DIMM to be secure erased or go to the bottom of the page and select "Configure Security"
Select "Secure Erase" and then it will bring up an alert for you to continue, Selecting "Yes" will secure erase all the DIMMs.
Clearing the PMem Configuration (Without secure erase) or Just enabling 2LM (Memory) mode:
Following this example will destroy any data on the DCPDIMM's so please make sure you have backups.
Go to Advanced -> Intel(R) Optane(TM) DC Persistent Memory Configuration -> Namespaces
Enter each namespace and delete it until no namespaces remain.
Then you need to modify the region map:
Go to Advanced -> Intel(R) Optane(TM) DC Persistent Memory Configuration -> Regions
go to "Create Goal Config" and set
-a Platform (All CPU's on the system) Goal.
-0% reserved
-100% Memory mode
- You will not be able to select Persistent memory type (Should be grayed out)
-Namespace 1.2
then "Create goal config"
If you wanted 2LM mode, you'd stop here and be done, otherwise if you're clearing it, You'll reboot, go back into the BIOS, and then follow the "Enabling AppDirect on new DIMMs" section.
