Intel Optane Persistent Memory Usages

Kristie Mann, General Manager, Intel Optane Persistent Memory Division, discusses the use case for Intel’s Optane™ technology as persistent memory. Intel launched the first generation Optane Persistent Memory (PMem) product in 2019 and recently introduced the second-generation 200 series. Optane PMem DIMMs are compatible with DDR but include a protocol to allow asynchronous communication between the media, DRAM, and the processor, as well as a memory controller that allows data to be used directly in any location. Optane PMem can be used as capacity memory (Memory Mode) or as native persistent memory (App Direct Mode).

Since block I/O limits today’s storage system performance, Intel has been developing a new technology known as DAOS which allows Intel Optane persistent memory technology to be used in an advanced storage stack for high-performance computing with advanced storage features. Kelsey Prantis, Software Engineering Manager, and Andrey Kudryavtsev, HPC Storage Architect, then go into detail about DAOS in a discussion with the Storage Field Day delegates. They present record-breaking performance of the solution from IO500 with solutions at TACC and Argonne National Labs.