Add a virtual NVDIMM device to a virtual machine to enable it to use non-volatile, or persistent, computer memory. Non-volatile memory (NVM), or persistent memory (PMem), combines the high data transfer rates of the volatile memory with the persistence and resiliency of traditional storage. The virtual NVDIMM device is a virtual NVM device that can retain stored data through reboots or power source failures.

Virtual machines consume the PMem resource of the host in two ways, through a virtual non-volatile dual in-line memory module (NVDIMM) or through a virtual persistent memory disk. When you add an NVDIMM module to a virtual machine, the virtual machine gains direct access to a PMem region of computer memory.

For more information, see the vSphere Resource Management guide.

Prerequisites

  • Verify that the guest OS of the virtual machine supports PMem.
  • Verify that the virtual hardware version is 14 or higher.
  • Verify that you have the Datastore.Allocate space privilege on the virtual machine.
  • Verify that the host or the cluster on which the virtual machine resides has available PMem resources.

Procedure

  1. Right-click a virtual machine in the inventory and select Edit Settings.
  2. On the Virtual Hardware tab, add a new NVDIMM device. click Add a new device and select NVDIMM from the drop-down menu.
    Client Steps
    vSphere Client Click the Add New Device button and select NVDIMM from the drop-down menu.
    vSphere Web Client
    1. Select NVDIMM from the New device drop-down menu at the bottom of the wizard.
    2. Click Add.
    The NVDIMM device appears in the Virtual Hardware devices list together with the virtual NVDIMM controller. Each virtual machine can have a maximum of one virtual NVDIMM controller and each NVDIMM controller can have up to 64 virtual NVDIMM devices.
    Note: You can change the size of the NVDIMM device at a later time. The virtual machine must be powered off.
  3. In the New NVDIMM text box, enter the size of the NVDIMM device and select the units from the drop-down menu.
    Note: If the virtual machine uses PMem storage, the hard disks that are stored on a PMem datastore and the NVDIMM devices that you add to the virtual machine all share the same PMem resources. So, you must adjust the size of the newly added devices in accordance with the amount of the PMem available to the host. If any part of the configuration requires attention, the wizard alerts you.