Dell EMC NVDIMM-N Persistent Memory User Guide

Automatic Shutdown and Save

A primary goal for DellEMC’s NVDIMM-N Persistent Memory Solution is to protect customer data. A key ingredient in the data protection is the server’s Power Supply. The PSU(s) must have sufficient hold-up power for the Save process to start and for the server to transition to the NVDIMM-N Backup Battery.

Any changes to the server hardware configuration due to hot add/remove of devices or PSU failures will result in a server power budget re-evaluation. If in the case where the power budget exceeds the PSU’s ability to hold-up power, the server will immediately shutdown to trigger a Save on the NVDIMM-N and protect customer data to flash. The server will reboot. If the problem persists, BIOS will place the NVDIMM-N into Read-Only mode before booting to the OS.

In a modular chassis, since power is managed at the chassis level, an power loss event or removal of PSUs resulting in power demand exceeding available capacity will trigger an entire chassis shutdown if there are NVDIMM equipped sleds installed and powered on. If the chassis is power constrained, additional components will not be allowed to turn on if the power requirements of those components will push the power consumption of the chassis above the available power. Additionally, if a user elects to perform a "Virtual Reseat" of an NVDIMM equipped sled, the targeted sled will trigger a save on the NVDIMM-N, but not affect the whole chassis.