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The SNIA SSSI in the news.

It’s a Wrap for SNIA and the Solid State Storage Initiative at Flash Memory Summit 2019

Marty Foltyn Leave a comment

A Best of Show award, over 12 hours of content, three days of demos, and a new program drawing attention to persistent memory programming completed – Flash Memory Summit 2019 is officially a success!

SNIA volunteers were again recognized for their hard work developing standards for datacenters and storage professionals with a “Most Innovative Flash Memory Technology” FMS Best of Show award. This year, it was SNIA’s Object Drive Technical Work Group who received kudos for the SNIA Technical Position Key Value Storage API Specification.  Jay Kramer, head of the FMS awards program, presented the award to Bill Martin, Chair of the Object Drive TWG, commenting “Key value store technology can enable NVM storage devices to map and store data more efficiently and with enhanced performance, which is of paramount significance to facilitate computational storage.  Flash Memory Summit is proud to recognize the SNIA Object Drive Technical Work Group (TWG) for creating the SNIA Technical Position Key Value Storage API Specification Version 1.0 defining an application programming interface (API) for key value storage devices and making this available to the public for download.

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SNIA at Flash Memory Summit 2019 – Your Guide Here!

Marty Foltyn Leave a comment

SNIA technical work and education advances will play a prominent role in the program at the 2019 Flash Memory Summit, August 5-8, 2019, in Santa Clara, CA.  Over 40 speakers will present on key standards activities and education initiatives, including the first ever FMS Persistent Memory Hackathon hosted by SNIA.  Check out your favorite technology (or all), and learn what SNIA is doing in these sessions:

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Register for the PIRL Conference Today

Marty Foltyn Leave a comment

Registration is now open for the upcoming Persistent Programming in Real Life (PIRL) Conference – July 22-23, 2019 on the campus of the University of California San Diego (UCSD).

The 2019 PIRL event features a collaboration between UCSD Computer Science and Engineering, the Non-Volatile Systems Laboratory, and the SNIA to bring industry leaders in programming and developing persistent memory applications together for a two-day discussion on their experiences.

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Your Questions Answered – Applications Take Advantage of Persistent Memory Webcast

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We hope you had time to check out our recent webcast on Applications Take Advantage of Persistent Memory.  Raghu Kulkarni of Viking Technology, a member of the SNIA Solid State Storage Initiative, did a great job laying the foundation for an understanding of Persistent Memory today, just in time for the SNIA Persistent Memory Summit.

You can catch up on videos of Summit talks, along with the slides presented, here.

During the webcast, we had many interesting questions.  Now, as promised, Raghu provides the answers.  Happy reading, and we hope to see you at one of our upcoming webcasts or events.

Q.  Does NVDIMM-N encryption lower the performance levels that you presented?

A.  It typically depends on the implementation and differs from each vendor. Generally speaking, Save and Restore operations will increase by a small factor – less than 10%.  Products from some vendors, like Viking, will not see a performance degradation as it is offset by a faster transfer rate

Q.  What are the read/write bandwidth capabilities of NVDIMM-N? How does that compare to Intel’s Persistent Memory?

A.  For Byte-addressable mode, NVDIMM-N in theory has the same high performance as DRAM, around 100ns. With the latest Linux drivers in DAX mode, NVDIMM-N are still expected to be better than Intel’s Persistent Memory.

Q.  On the use cases, what are the use cases when Persistent Memory is attached to an accelerator chip compared to a Processor attached setup?

A.  Mainly to accelerate the performance by storing the metadata or even data in Persistent Memory, so that the request can be acknowledged immediately without having to wait for commits to SSD/HDD. It also saves the rebuild time, which is a common practice for volatile memory.

Q.  How does BIOS/MRC work when a Persistent Memory is attached to an accelerator (ASIC/FPGA/GPU) over PCIe, when trying to extended/increase the memory for the processor?

A.  System BIOS will not detect the Persistent Memory sitting on PCIe; it only discovers Persistent Memory installed in DIMM slots. FPGA/ASIC, etc. have to build their own bottom up code to detect and present the Persistent Memory on PCIe depending on the use case.

Q.  Do we need application changes to take advantage of Persistent Memory-aware file storage? how does it compare against the DAX mode?

A.  To take advantage of the low latency/high performance nature of Persistent Memory, it would be beneficial to modify the applications. However, one can still leverage the existing IO stack if modifying the application is not an option. Check out pmem.io for pre-built libraries that can be directly integrated into applications.

Q.  Should the Persistent Memory usage be compared against the Storage or Memory. Which is a more relevant use case for Persistent Memory?

A.  Typically, a media that is Byte-addressable is called Persistent Memory (PM); however, you can also access it in Block mode. Again, depending on the application needs, use case, and other system level factors it can be used in either modes.  However, you will find best performance when accessing in Byte-addressable/Load-Store mode.

 

 

Hacking with the U

Marty Foltyn Leave a comment

It’s now less than three weeks for the next SNIA Persistent Memory Hackathon and Workshop.  Our next workshop will be held in conjunction with the 10th Annual Non-Volatile Memory Workshop (http://nvmw.ucsd.edu/) at the University of California, San Diego on Sunday, March 10th from 2:00pm to 5:30pm.

The Hackathon at NVMW19 provides software developers with an understanding of the different tiers and modes of persistent memory, and gives an overview of the standard software libraries that are available to access persistent memory.  Attendees will have access to system configured with persistent memory, software libraries, and sample source code. A variety of mentors will be available to provide tutorials and guide participants in the development of code. Learn more here.

In the last workshop, the feedback from the attendees pointed to a desire to work longer on code after the tutorial ended.  We will ensure that all the Hackathon attendees will have access to their environment through the length of the conference. So any participant in the Sunday session will be able to continue work until the conference completion on Tuesday afternoon.  While there won’t be an opportunity for formal follow-up, we’re planning an informal meet-up the final day of the conference. Stay tuned for details.

For those not familiar with NVMW, the program is replete with the latest in non-volatile memory research, which enables attendees to understand the practical advances in software development for persistence.  The workshop facilitates the exchange of ideas and advances collaboration and knowledge of the use of persistent memory. Registration for the conference is affordable, and grants are available for university student attendees.

For those not able to get to San Diego in March, enjoy the weather that obviously won’t be anywhere near as nice where you live.  Oh, sorry. For those not able to get to San Diego in March, SNIA is working on the next opportunities for a formal hackathon. But we can’t do it alone.  If you have a group of programmers interested in learning persistent memory development, SNIA would consider coming to you with a Host a Hackathon. We can provide, or even train, mentors to get you started, and show you how to build your own cloud-based development environment.  You’ll get an introduction to coding, and you’ll be left with some great examples to build your own applications. Contact SNIA at PMhackathon@snia.org for more details and visit our PM Programming Hackathon webpage for the latest updates.

Persistently Fun Once Again – SNIA’s 7th Persistent Memory Summit is a Wrap!

kristin.hauser Leave a comment

Leave it to Rob Peglar, SNIA Board Member and the MC of SNIA’s 7th annual Persistent Memory Summit to capture the Summit day as persistently fun with a metric boatload of great presentations and speakers! And indeed it was a great day, with fourteen sessions presented by 23 speakers covering the breadth of where PM is in 2019 – real world, application-focused, and supported by multiple operating systems. Find a great recap on the Forbes blog by Tom Coughlin of Coughlin Associates.

Attendees enjoyed live demos of Persistent Memory technologies from AgigA Tech, Intel, SMART Modular, the SNIA Solid State Storage Initiative, and Xilinx.  Learn more about what they presented here.

And for the first time as a part of the Persistent Memory Summit, SNIA hosted a Persistent Memory Programming Hackathon sponsored by Google Cloud, where SNIA PM experts mentored software developers to do live coding to understand the various tiers and modes of PM and what existing methods are available to access them.  Upcoming SNIA SSSI on Solid State Storage blogs will give details and insights into “PM Hacking”.  Also sign up for the SNIAMatters monthly newsletter to learn more, and stay tuned for upcoming Hackathons – next one is March 10-11 in San Diego.

Missed out on the live sessions?  Not to worry, each session was videotaped and can be found on the SNIA Youtube Channel.  Download the slides for each session on the PM Summit agenda at www.snia.org/pm-summit.  Thanks to our presenters from Advanced Computation and Storage, Arm, Avalanche Technology, Calypso Systems, Coughlin Associates, Dell, Everspin Technologies, In-Cog Solutions, Intel, Mellanox Technologies, MemVerge, Microsoft, Objective Analysis, Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation, Tencent Cloud, Western Digital, and Xilinx.   And thanks also to our great audience and their questions – your enthusiasm and support will keep us persistently having even more fun!

Exceptional Agenda – and a Hackathon – Highlight the 2019 SNIA Persistent Memory Summit

Marty Foltyn Leave a comment

SNIA 7th annual Persistent Memory Summit – January 24, 2019 at the Hyatt Santa Clara CA – delivers a far-reaching agenda exploring exciting new topics with experienced speakers:

  • Paul Grun of OpenFabrics Alliance and Cray on the Characteristics of Persistent Memory
  • Stephen Bates of Eideticom, Neal Christiansen of Microsoft, and Eric Kaczmarek of Intel on Enabling Persistent Memory through OS and Interpreted Languages
  • Adam Roberts of Western Digital on the Mission Critical Fundamental Architecture for Numerous In-memory Databases
  • Idan Burstein of Mellanox Technologies on Making Remote Memory Persistent
  • Eden Kim of Calypso Systems on Persistent Memory Performance Benchmarking and Comparison

And much more!  Full agenda and speaker bios at http://www.snia.org/pm-summit.

Registration is complimentary and includes the opportunity to tour demonstrations of persistent memory applications available today from SNIA Persistent Memory and NVDIMM SIG, SMART Modular, AgigA Tech, and Viking Technology over lunch, at breaks, and during the evening Networking Reception.  Additional sponsorship opportunities are available to SNIA and non-SNIA member companies – learn more.

New Companion Event to the Summit –

Persistent Memory Programming Hackathon

Wednesday January 23, 2019 9:00 am – 2:00 pm

Join us for the inaugural PM Programming Hackathon on the day before the Summit –a half-day program designed to get software developers an understanding of the various tiers and modes of Persistent Memory and what existing methods are available to access them.  Learn more and register at https://www.snia.org/pm-summit/hackathon

Emerging Memory Questions Answered

Marty Foltyn Leave a comment

With a topic like Emerging Memory Poised to Explode, no wonder this SNIA Solid State Storage Initiative webcast generated so much interest!  Our audience had some great questions, and, as promised, our experts Tom Coughlin and Jim Handy provide the answers in this blog. Read on, and join SNIA at the Persistent Memory Summit January 24, 2019 in Santa Clara CA.  Details and complimentary registration are at www.snia.org/pm-summit.

Q. Can you mention one or two key applications leading the effort to leverage Persistent Memory?

A. Right now the main applications for Persistent Memory are in Storage Area Networks (SANs), where NVDIMM-Ns (Non-Volatile Dual In-line Memory Modules) are being used for journaling.  SAP HANA, SQLserver, Apache Ignite, Oracle RDBMS, eXtremeDB, Aerospike, and other in-memory databases are undergoing early deployment with NVDIMM-N and with Intel’s Optane DIMMs in hyperscale datacenters.  IBM is using Everspin Magnetoresistive Random-Access Memory (MRAM) chips for higher-speed functions (write cache, data buffer, streams, journaling, and logs) in certain Solid State Drives (SSDs), following a lead taken by Mangstor.  Everspin’s STT MRAM DIMM is also seeing some success, but the company’s not disclosing a lot of specifics.

Q. I believe that anyone who can ditch the batteries for NVDIMM support will happily pay a mark-up on 3DXP DIMMs should Micron offer them.

A: Perhaps that’s true.  I think that Micron, though, is looking for higher-volume applications.  Micron is well aware of the size of the NVDIMM-N market, since the company is an important NVDIMM supplier.  Everspin is probably also working on this opportunity, since its STT MRAM DIMM is similar, although at a significantly higher price than Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM).

Volume is the key to more applications for 3DXPoint DIMMs and any other memory technology.  It may be that the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications will help drive the greater use of many of these fast Non-Volatile Memories.

Q.  Any comments on HPE’s Memristor?

A: HPE went very silent on the Memristor at about the same time that the 3D XPoint Memory was introduced.  The company explained in 2016 that the first generation of “The Machine” would use DRAM instead of the Memristor.  This leads us to suspect that 3D XPoint turned some heads at HPE.  One likely explanation is that HPE by itself would have a very difficult time reaching the scale required to bring the Memristor’s cost to the necessary level to justify its use.

Q. Do you expect NVDIMM-N will co-exist into the future with other storage class memories because of its speed and essentially unlimited endurance of DRAM?

A: Yes.  The NVDIMM-N should continue to appeal to certain applications, especially those that value its technical attributes enough to offset its higher-than-DRAM price.

Q. What are Write/Erase endurance limitations of PCM and STT? (vis a vis DRAM’s infinite endurance)?

A: Intel and Micron have never publicly disclosed their endurance figures for 3D XPoint, although Jim Handy has backed out numbers in his Memory Guy blog (http://TheMemoryGuy.com/examining-3d-xpoints-1000-times-endurance-benefit/).  His calculations indicate an endurance of more than 30K erase/write cycles, but the number could be significantly lower than this since SSD controllers do a good job of reducing the number of writes that the memory chip actually sees.  There’s an SSD guy series on this: http://thessdguy.com/how-controllers-maximize-ssd-life/, also available as a SNIA SSSI TechNote.   Everspin’s EMD3D256M STT MRAM specification lists an endurance of 10^10 cycles.

Q. Your thoughts on Nanotube RAM (NRAM)?

A: Although the nanotube memory is very interesting it is only one member in a sea of contenders for the Persistent Memory crown.  It’s very difficult to project the outcome of a device that’s not already in volume production.

Q. Will Micron commercialize 3D XPoint? I do not see them in the market as much as Intel on Optane.

A: Micron needs a clear path to profitability to rationalize entering the 3D XPoint market whereas Intel can justify losing money on the technology.  Learn why in an upcoming post on The Memory Guy blog.

Thanks again to the bearded duo and their moderator, Alex McDonald, SNIA Solid State Storage Initiative Co-Chair!  Bookmark the SNIA Brighttalk webcast link for more great webcasts in 2019!

Registration Now Open and Agenda Topics Posted for the 2019 SNIA Persistent Memory Summit

kristin.hauser Leave a comment

Don’t miss your chance to attend the SNIA’s 7th Annual Persistent Memory Summit, co-located with the SNIA Annual Members’ Meeting on January 24, 2019 at a new location – Hyatt Regency Santa Clara CA.  This innovative one-day event brings together industry leaders, solution providers, and users of technology to understand the ecosystem driving system memory and storage into a single, unified “persistent memory” entity. Agenda topics include Enabling Persistent Memory through the Operating System and Interpreted Languages; PM Solutions, Interfaces, and Media; and the NVM Programming Model in the Real World.  The final agenda will be live later this month so stay tuned!

Many thanks to SNIA member Intel Corporation and the SNIA Solid State Storage Initiative for underwriting the Summit.  New to the Summit in 2019 is an evening networking reception and a new, expanded demonstration area. Gold and Demonstration sponsor opportunities are now available.  Complimentary registration is now open – visit www.snia.org/pm-summit to sign up, check out videos of 2018 sessions, and learn how to showcase your PM solutions at the event.

SNIA Volunteer Work Wins Recognition at Flash Memory Summit

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SNIA thanks and celebrates the many hardworking SNIA member volunteers whose technical work was awarded Best of Show at the recent Flash Memory Summit.

Jennifer Dietz and Eden Kim accept FMS award from Jay Kramer

SNIA won the FMS Most Innovative Flash Memory Technology Award, recognizing innovations that will change the way flash memory works and is used in products, for the SNIA Technical Position Real World Storage Workloads Performance Test Specification (RWSW PTS), developed by the SNIA Solid State Storage Technical Work Group (SSS TWG). “Real World Workloads are important for Data Center, IT, and Storage professionals,” said Eden Kim, Chair of the SSS TWG, and CEO of SNIA member company Calypso Systems “because real world workloads are very different from synthetic lab workloads and are key determinants in datacenter server and storage performance, optimization and qualification.”   Eden and Jennifer Dietz of SNIA member company Intel and Co-Chair of the SNIA Solid State Storage Initiative Marketing Committee accepted the award from Jay Kramer of Flash Memory Summit.

Mark Carlson and Bill Martin accept award on behalf of SNIA from Jay Kramer

SNIA also won the FMS Best of Show Technology Innovation Award, recognizing that cloud and other large data centers typically prioritize their selection criteria for storage solutions as those that can achieve the highest possible performance while avoiding proprietary vendor lock-in.  SNIA and EXTEN HyperDynamic™ NVMe over Fabrics high-performance storage software were recognized for creating an open storage management specification that works with EXTEN storage software for being the first in the industry to provide a solution based on SNIA Swordfish™ and DMTF Redfish® specifications. “We congratulate EXTEN Technologies for its innovation and well-deserved accolade,” said Don Deel, SNIA Storage Management Initiative Governing Board Chair. “By integrating SNIA Swordfish into its solution, EXTEN Technologies’ customers will benefit from a standards-based API that does not require learning the intricacies of storage infrastructure to handle day-to-day storage needs.” Accepting the award for SNIA at FMS were Mark Carlson of SNIA member company Toshiba Memory Systems and Bill Miller of SNIA member company Samsung Electronics, Co-Chairs of the SNIA Technical Council.

Congratulations to all the SNIA volunteers who participated in the development of these award-winning specifications.

SNIA Sessions at FMS Now Available for Viewing and Download

Also at Flash Memory Summit, SNIA work and volunteers were on display in sessions on persistent memory (PM), solid state storage, form factors, and testing. A two-day PM track featured talks on advances in PM, PM hardware, PM software and applications, and remote persistent memory (PMEM-101-1; PMEM -102-1; PMEM-201-1; and PMEM-202-1).

SNIA is now partnering with the Enterprise and Datacenter SSD Form Factor Working Group (EDSFF) on form factors and a Wednesday session outlined their advances (SSD-201-1). SNIA also presented a preconference seminar (G) on bringing your SSD testing up to date, and a SNIA Education afternoon with sessions on flash storage, programming and networking, buffers, queues, and caches; and a BoF on PM futures.  Check out all these sessions and more on the Flash Memory Summit proceedings page.

SNIA Executive Director Michael Oros shared SNIA strategic directions and areas of focus in a FMS main stage presentation, available here.

SNIA also presented updates on their work in Persistent Memory, Solid State Storage, and alliances at a well-attended reception on Monday evening.  The SSSI honored Doug Voigt, co-chair of the NVM Programming Technical Work Group, for his contributions to SNIA and the NVM Programming Model.

We continued our discussions on the exhibit floor featuring JEDEC-compliant NVDIMM-Ns from SNIA Persistent Memory and NVDIMM SIG members AgigA Tech, Micron, Netlist, SMART Modular Technologies, and Viking in a Supermicro box running an open source performance demonstration.  If you missed it, the SIG will showcase a similar demonstration at the upcoming SNIA Storage Developer Conference September 24-27, 2018, and the SNIA Persistent Memory Summit January 24, 2019 at the Hyatt Santa Clara.  Register now for both events!