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NVMe configuration, support, and limitations

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Beginning with ONTAP 9.4, the non-volatile memory express (NVMe) protocol is available for SAN environments. FC-NVMe uses the same physical setup and zoning practice as traditional FC networks but allows for greater bandwidth, increased IOPs and reduced latency than FC-SCSI.

NVMe support and limitations vary based on your version of ONTAP, your platform and your configuration. For details on your specific configuration, see the NetApp Interoperability Matrix Tool. For supported limits, see Hardware Universe.

Note The maximum nodes per cluster is available in Hardware Universe under Supported Platform Mixing.

Configuration

  • You can set up your NVMe configuration using a single fabric or multifabric.

  • You should configure one management LIF for every SVM supporting SAN.

  • The use of heterogeneous FC switch fabrics is not supported, except in the case of embedded blade switches.

    Specific exceptions are listed on the NetApp Interoperability Matrix Tool.

  • Cascade, partial mesh, full mesh, core-edge, and director fabrics are all industry-standard methods of connecting FC switches to a fabric, and all are supported.

    A fabric can consist of one or multiple switches, and the storage controllers can be connected to multiple switches.

Features

The following NVMe features are supported based on your version of ONTAP.

Beginning with ONTAP…​

NVMe supports

9.15.1

  • Four-node MetroCluster IP configurations on NVMe/TCP

9.14.1

  • Setting the host priority at the subsystem (host-level QoS)

9.12.1

  • Four-node MetroCluster IP configurations on NVMe/FC

  • MetroCluster configurations are not supported for front-end NVMe networks before ONTAP 9.12.1.

  • MetroCluster configurations are not supported on NVMe/TCP.

9.10.1

Resizing a namespace

9.9.1

  • Namespaces and LUNs coexistence on the same volume

9.8

  • Protocol co-existence

    SCSI, NAS and NVMe protocols can exist on the same storage virtual machine (SVM).

    Prior to ONTAP 9.8, NVMe can be the only protocol on the SVM.

9.6

  • 512 byte blocks and 4096 byte blocks for namespaces

    4096 is the default value. 512 should only be used if the host operating system does not support 4096 byte blocks.

  • Volume move with mapped namespaces

9.5

  • Multipath HA pair failover/giveback

Protocols

The following NVMe protocols are supported.

Protocol

Beginning with ONTAP…​

Allowed by…​

TCP

9.10.1

Default

FC

9.4

Default

Beginning with ONTAP 9.8, you can configure SCSI, NAS and NVMe protocols on the same storage virtual machine (SVM). In ONTAP 9.7 and earlier, NVMe can be the only protocol on the SVM.

Namespaces

When working with NVMe namespaces, you should be aware of the following:

  • ONTAP does not support the NVMe DataSet Management (deallocate) command with NVMe for space reclamation.

  • You cannot use SnapRestore to restore a namespace from a LUN or vice-versa.

  • The space guarantee for namespaces is the same as the space guarantee of the containing volume.

  • You cannot create a namespace on a volume transition from Data ONTAP operating in 7-Mode.

  • Namespaces do not support the following:

    • Renaming

    • Inter-volume move

    • Inter-volume copy

    • Copy on Demand

Additional limitations

The following ONTAP features are not supported by NVMe configurations:

  • SnapMirror active sync

  • Virtual Storage Console

  • Persistent reservations

The following applies only to nodes running ONTAP 9.4:

  • NVMe LIFs and namespaces must be hosted on the same node.

  • The NVMe service must be created before the NVMe LIF is created.

Related information

Best practices for modern SAN