Intel® Optane™ Memory M and H Series

1 Document Number: 571964-006US intel Optane Memory M and H Series Insta lla tion Guide December 2019 Revision 6 intel Optane Memory Installation Guide December 2019 2 571964-006US Revision History Revision Number Description Revision Date 001 Initial release October 2016 002 Section , removed reference to intel s NUC utility June 2018 003 Added intel Optane Memory and Storage Management application and intel Optane Memory H Series April 2019 004 Added detailed content on the Data Drive Acceleration capability May 2019 005 Updates to intel Optane Memory H Series Enable Acceleration process Minor formatting changes May 2019 006 Updates to include support for intel SSD 6 Series built on intel QLC 3D NAND Technology drives with intel RST driver version or later Added reference to additional step for intel Optane Memory H Series in the intel Optane Memory and Storage Management application ( or later) Added Section 6 covering MBR to GPT Conversion Steps Added Section 2 to help guide different installation scenarios Minor formatting changes December 2019 intel may make changes to specifications and product descriptions at any time, without notice.

2 Designers must not rely on the absence or characteristics of any features or instructions marked "reserved" or "undefined". intel reserves these for future definition and shall have no responsibility whatsoever for conflicts or incompatibilities arising from future changes to them. The information here is subject to change without notice. Do not finalize a design with this information. The products described in this document may contain design defects or errors known as errata which may cause the product to deviate from published specifications. Current characterized errata are available on request. intel technologies features and benefits depend on system configuration and may require enabled hardware, software or service activation. Performance varies depending on system configuration. No computer system can be absolutely secure. Check with your system manufacturer or retailer or learn more at intel disclaims all express and implied warranties, including without limitation, the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement, as well as any warranty arising from course of performance, course of dealing, or usage in trade.

3 Contact your local intel sales office or your distributor to obtain the latest specifications and before placing your product order. intel is a trademark of intel Corporation or in the US and other countries. *Other brands and names may be claimed as the property of others. intel Corporation. All rights reserved. intel Optane Memory December 2019 Installation Guide 571964-006US 3 Contents 1 Overview .. 4 About this Document .. 4 Minimum Requirements .. 4 Hardware .. 4 System BIOS Settings and Support .. 6 Operating System .. 7 Windows Driver .. 8 2 System Configuration Setup .. 9 New System Build and Setup .. 9 Upgrade a Current System by Adding an intel Optane Memory Device .. 9 3 intel Optane Memory Capable Applications .. 10 intel Optane Memory and Storage Management Application .. 10 Enabling Acceleration .. 11 Disabling Acceleration .. 15 Uninstalling the Application .. 17 intel Optane Memory Application .. 19 Platforms Starting in AHCI mode ( intel Optane Memory M Series Only).

4 19 Platforms Starting in intel RST Premium Mode .. 23 Enabling Acceleration .. 27 Disabling Acceleration .. 30 Uninstalling the Application .. 32 intel Rapid Storage Technology Application .. 36 Enabling Acceleration .. 40 Disabling Acceleration .. 43 Uninstalling the Application .. 45 4 Additional Features/Capabilities .. 49 Data Drive Acceleration (DDA) .. 49 Hardware/Software Requirements .. 49 Enable/Disable Acceleration .. 49 50 5 Troubleshooting .. 51 Device Detection Issues .. 51 Cache Rebuild Occurs On Reboot .. 51 intel Optane Memory Application Installation Failures .. 52 Unsupported CPU .. 52 Unsupported Chipset .. 52 Unsupported Operating System .. 53 Unsupported BIOS .. 53 Unsupported System Drive .. 54 Error Checking System Compatibility .. 56 intel Rapid Storage Technology is Already Installed .. 57 intel Optane Memory is Currently Enabled .. 58 Hardware Failure .. 58 Fast Media Missing At Boot.

5 58 Slow Media Missing At Boot .. 59 Media Failure and Data Recovery .. 59 Media Replacement Procedure .. 59 6 Verify/Make Changes to Drive Partition Structure (MBR vs GPT) .. 61 Verify Current Drive Partition Structure .. 61 Convert from MBR to GPT with .. 62 7 Windows Recovery Environment .. 63 Preparing the Windows 10 OS Recovery (Advanced) .. 63 intel Optane Memory Installation Guide December 2019 4 571964-006US 1 Overview intel Optane Memory is a system acceleration solution that can be used to increase responsiveness on supported intel platforms. This solution uses the intel Optane Memory media that is based on intel Optane technology, along with the intel Rapid Storage Technology ( intel RST) driver. It is a dual-media solution (fast media for caching + slow media for storage capacity) that is presented to the host OS as a single SSD. When this new Memory media is installed between the processor and slower storage media, the computer can store commonly used data and programs closer to the processor.

6 In doing so, intel Optane Memory accelerates your computer s access to frequently used documents, pictures, videos and application files and remembers them even after you power it off. About this Document This document provides the platform requirements and installation process for intel Optane Memory products, including available applications to manage these devices and the following products: intel Optane Memory / intel Optane Memory M- Series products when paired with a supported slow media drive1. intel Optane Memory H10 with solid state storage (or intel Optane Memory H- Series ). This device contains intel Optane Memory media and intel QLC 3D NAND media on the same drive. Differences between the setup and settings that apply to only one of the products above will be noted. The intel Optane Memory H- Series is only available as part of a complete system purchased through your local retailer/online system vendor2. o When purchased, the system will be configured and enabled properly to pair the intel Optane Memory portion of the device with the intel QLC 3D NAND portion of the device.

7 O If there are issues or a need to disable acceleration, intel recommends working with your system vendor due to customizations specific to the platform. o Details provided in this document are for reference for experienced users only. NOTE: 1. slow media drive support includes sata SSD, HDD, SSHD s and supported intel SSD 6 Series built on intel QLC 3D NAND Technology drives 2. The part may be available online as a brown box through some distributors. These are primarily meant for purchase by system vendors for integration in a complete platform Minimum Requirements Hardware intel Optane Memory / intel Optane Memory M- Series 1. Motherboard/System support: a. Motherboards and Systems that contain the proper BIOS and Hardware support will be listed as intel Optane Memory Ready by the system vendor b. If buying the CPU separately for a system build, note the supported processors here: 2. The system should contain at least the minimum system Memory required by the operating system.

8 Consult the computer system and OS vendor for more details. intel Optane Memory December 2019 Installation Guide 571964-006US 5 3. Fast media (cache device): Only one intel Optane technology NVMe Memory module. a. An connector is required for the intel Optane Memory module; it can be down on the motherboard or on a PCIe adapter card plugged into a remapped PCIe x2 or x4 slot. 4. Slow media (disk to be accelerated): Only a single pass-through disk can be accelerated. The acceleration of RAID volumes or other multiple disk configurations is not supported. Please see below for supported slow media options: a. sata HDD single pass-through b. sata SSD single pass-through c. SSHD single pass-through d. intel SSD 6 Series built on intel QLC 3D NAND Technology drives (Such as the intel SSD 665p Series ) Support was added with the intel RST driver version NOTES: The acceleration of RAID volumes or other multiple disk configurations is not supported.

9 Only one intel Optane Memory volume is allowed per system. If more than one volume is detected during boot, the second volume will be placed offline (i) When a drive is placed offline it means that the drive is put in a state where the operating system is unable to detect the drive. The drive can still be detected in the intel Optane Memory and Storage Management application and the System BIOS (Under the intel RST menu). intel Optane Memory H Series This product is only available as part of a complete system purchased through your local retailer/online system vendor. Check the system specifications for details if this Series is included. NOTES: The part may be found for purchase through distributors, this is targeted for Local OEMs to integrate in their system solutions. If bought and the user wishes to add to a system on their own, requirements below must be met and applied Important: A system/motherboard that states it is intel Optane Memory Ready does NOT mean that it supports this Series as well.

10 When purchased, the system will be configured and enabled properly to pair the intel Optane Memory portion of the device with the intel QLC NAND portion of the device. If there are issues or a need to disable acceleration, (reinstall the OS, Backup data, etc), intel recommend working with your system vendor due to customizations specific to the platform before beginning. Details provided in this document are for reference for experienced users only. 1. The system will contain the intel Optane Memory H Series device. It contains both the fast media and slow media on the same module. The module will be located in an connector that supports PCIe x4. a. The Motherboard must support PCIe x4 Note: Until acceleration is enabled (as defined in Section 3) the operating system will show both portions of the device as individual storage devices. Using the module in this state is not validated or supported; results are not guaranteed. 2. The device cannot be used to accelerate storage devices other than the intel QLC 3D NAND present on the device intel Optane Memory Installation Guide December 2019 6 571964-006US NOTES: The slow media (on the intel Optane Memory H Series ) can contain the operating system ( System Drive Acceleration ) or only data ( Data Drive Acceleration /DDA).