PRODUCTS

CXL® Persistent Memory
Netlist NVvault™

Introduction

NVvault Card

Netlist NVvault™ is a CXL Type 3 non-volatile persistent memory proof of concept developed to explore how memory-class storage can be extended beyond the CPU socket while preserving low latency and data durability. As data-intensive workloads continue to push the limits of traditional DRAM and storage hierarchies, NVvault provides a platform to evaluate new memory architectures that combine DRAM-like access with persistence across power events.

Built on a standards-based CXL architecture, NVvault integrates DRAM with non-volatile NAND backup and backup energy to enable automatic data protection and fast recovery, independent of the host operating system. Persistent memory regions are exposed to the OS using standard Linux tools, allowing developers and system architects to validate software behavior, recovery semantics, and application workflows using familiar x86 platforms.

This proof-of-concept is intended for evaluation, demonstration, and ecosystem development, enabling customers and partners to explore persistent memory use cases—including databases, analytics, storage systems, and high-performance computing—as the industry transitions toward memory expansion, pooling, and persistence enabled by CXL.

From NVDIMM-N to CXL® Persistent Memory: Bringing Persistence to the Memory Fabric

Explore how the evolution from NVDIMM-N to persistent memory based on CXL® is reshaping the future of data center architectures in the latest CXL Blog post. This article highlights the critical role of persistence in modern memory hierarchies and how Compute Express Link (CXL®) enables scalable, high-performance memory pooling while maintaining data integrity across power cycles. As a long-time innovator in persistent memory solutions, Netlist’s NVvault™ technology has been foundational in delivering reliability and performance at the DIMM level—principles now extended into the broader memory fabric through CXL. Read the full blog to understand how these advancements align with Netlist’s vision for next-generation memory systems and the continued importance of persistence in disaggregated architectures: From NVDIMM-N to CXL® Persistent Memory: Bringing Persistence to the Memory Fabric.

NVvault

Features

  • CXL Type 3 Persistent Memory (POC)
  • CXL 1.1 / 2.0 over PCIe Gen5
  • AIC FHHL form factor
  • Capacities: 16GB and 32GB
  • DRAM with non-volatile NAND backup
  • Cache-coherent host integration
  • Supports CXL.io and CXL.mem
  • Global Persistent Flush (GPF) compliant for graceful shutdown
  • FAIL_N support for surprise power-loss handling
  • CSAVE / RESTORE with DRAM self-refresh
  • Label Storage Area (LSA) and Dirty Shutdown Count (DSC) tracking
  • Enterprise RAS: ECC (SECDED + Reed-Solomon), secure boot, firmware update via PLDM

Benefits

  • DRAM-like latency and bandwidth for persistent memory use cases
  • Data persistence across power loss, unlike volatile DRAM
  • Byte-addressable and block-addressable access
  • Fully self-contained design with reliable energy source
  • Standards-based CXL architecture for ecosystem alignment
  • Platform for early software and system validation

Performance & Configuration (POC)

  • Latency: TBD (Proof of Concept)
  • Densities: 16GB / 32GB DDR4 with NV image to NAND
  • Management Interfaces: SMBus / I2C, SPI, UART OOB
  • NVC Control: BAEBI (JESD245E)

Architecture Overview

NVvault integrates DRAM and NAND under a CXL Type 3 device architecture:

  • DRAM operates as low-latency working memory
  • NAND stores the persistent image during power events
  • Self-sustaining dependable power delivery ensures completion of CSAVE operations
  • Global Persistent Flush (GPF) coordinates system-level persistence
  • Health status, media status, LSA, and DSC are exposed via CCI

This architecture enables exploration of persistent memory behavior in systems attached via CXL without relying on batteries.

Workloads (Evaluation Focus)

Databases

Databases benefit from persistent memory by keeping critical data structures closer to the CPU, reducing latency for logging, journaling, and checkpointing while enabling faster restart after power events. NVvault allows evaluation of OS-visible persistent memory regions that retain state across reboots, helping database platforms explore warm restarts, reduced recovery time, and improved availability.

Analytics

Analytics workloads increasingly require large memory footprints to keep hot data in memory for faster query execution and real-time insights. With NVvault, teams can evaluate how persistent memory attached via CXL supports caching, tiering, and rapid reinitialization of analytics pipelines, especially where dataset size and restart time are limiting factors.

Storage Systems

Storage systems rely on fast, durable memory tiers to accelerate metadata, journaling, and caching operations. NVvault enables evaluation of persistent write-back caches, metadata acceleration, and memory-tiered storage architectures where cached state survives power loss, reducing cold-start penalties and shortening recovery times after system failures.

High Performance Computing (HPC)

HPC workloads often depend on frequent checkpointing to protect long-running simulations and technical computing jobs. NVvault supports evaluation of persistent checkpoint storage and fast restart behavior, helping HPC teams reduce checkpoint overhead, minimize downtime, and explore new memory hierarchies enabled by CXL.

Product Status

Proof-of-Concept Available for Evaluation

NVvault proof-of-concept platforms are available for customer and partner evaluation. This POC enables hands-on validation of persistent memory attached via CXL using standard x86 servers and Linux, demonstrating how critical data persists seamlessly across both graceful shutdowns and unexpected power loss events.

During evaluation, NVvault showcases automatic DRAM-to-NAND backup and restore, managed entirely by onboard firmware and embedded energy—independent of the host operating system. The platform leverages CXL Global Persistent Flush (GPF) and supports surprise power loss handling, allowing systems to recover persistent memory contents quickly after reboot with no manual intervention.

This POC is ideal for teams exploring persistent memory software enablement, CXL ecosystem readiness, and application-level validation for databases, AI/ML checkpointing, caching, and fast recovery use cases.

NVvault Demonstration

Product Brief

i

NVvault Product Brief

Learn More

To discuss evaluation opportunities or learn more about Netlist’s CXL memory innovation:

Email: NVvault@netlist.com
Website: https://netlist.com

Compute Express Link, CXL, and the CXL Logo are Registered Trademarks of the CXL Consortium.