Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) is a specification for accessing solid-state drives (SSDs) attached through the PCI Express (PCIe) bus. It gives lower storage latency and much higher queue depths. Even though this technology is most relevant for server workloads, there are also some affordable new NVMe devices meant for client devices and workloads. A good primer on NVMe is available here.
Oct 15, 2017 This driver can be loaded multiple ways - Windows will use it's own NVME driver until the Operating System is online, then load the Samsung Driver - however if Windows has installed it in such a way where the notebook attempts to load the driver during POST or prior to Windows Operating System - the device may fail to boot. NVMe Solid State Drive Firmware. laptops-and-netbooks thinkpad-x-series-laptops X1 Yoga 1st Gen (Type 20FQ, 20FR) Laptop (ThinkPad).
The use case from nvmexpress.org is that
“NVM Express is architected from the ground up for Non-Volatile Memory (NVM). NVM Express significantly improves both random and sequential performance by reducing latency, enabling high levels of parallelism, and streamlining the command set while providing support for security, end-to-end data protection, and other Client and Enterprise features users need. NVM Express provides a standards-based approach enabling broad ecosystem adoption and PCIe SSD interoperability.”
NVMe is being pushed as a modern replacement for the old Advanced Host Controller Interface (AHCI) that most flash storage devices are still using, and all indications are that NVMe will really start to become more popular and more affordable in 2015/2016.
Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows 8.1 have a native NVMe driver that allows NVMe devices to be automatically recognized by Windows. This driver works, but does not offer the best performance. I wrote about my experiences with the native NVMe driver last October. Microsoft has also released a hotfix to Windows Server 2008 R2 and Windows 7 that gives native NVMe support to the operating system.
Anandtech has had similar results with several different NVMe devices. Their information (from Samsung) was that
“the performance difference was due to the Microsoft NVMe driver creating FUA (Force Unit Access) I/O write commands. These FUA commands bypass the DRAM cache on the SSD and directly write to the flash, increasing the response time and also lowering bandwidth. For the same access traces, this situation does not happen with the Microsoft AHCI driver.”
This sounds pretty similar to the difference between write-back and write-through caching for RAID controllers. If you have any NVMe storage devices, you should make absolutely sure that you are using the vendor supplied NVMe driver rather than the generic Microsoft NVMe driver. My fear is that it will be very common for many server administrators to simply install their NVMe device, start the server, and then think everything is ok, since Windows recognized the device and it seems to be working.
There are a lot of recent tests of new NVMe storage devices to whet your appetite for this technology. Here are some reviews and tests of client devices:
Here are some reviews of server devices:
Hopefully, Microsoft will improve the performance of their native NVMe driver in a future update for Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows 8.1. I certainly hope the native NVMe driver performs better in Windows 10 and “Windows Server 2016”. I would love to see Microsoft’s Jose Barreto weigh in on this subject!
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Info:
Model: Samsung NVMe Controller DriverVendor: Samsung
Version: 2.3.0.1709
Operating system: Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 10
Bits:
32-bit (x86), 64-bit (x64)
Samsung Nvme Boot Driver
Driver Date: 2017-10-12Size: 28 mb
Driver description
Download driverSamsung NVMe Controller Driver version 2.3.0.1709 for Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 10 32-bit (x86), 64-bit (x64).
File Name
Windows 10 Nvme Driver Download
samsung_nvme_2.3.0.1709.zip - Windows 10 64 bits (3.5 mb) v.2.3.0.1709
ASUS_EZInstaller.zip - (39.2 mb) v.2.1.0.1611 by ASUS
Express-Flash-PCIe-SSD_Driver_MHN3J_WN32_1.4.8.3_A07.EXE - (5.6 mb) v.1.4.8.3 by DELL
ASUS_EZ_Installer_V10306_20170405.zip - (28 mb) v.1.4.7.17 by ASUS
sp78112.exe - (0.03) v.2.4.7.0 by HP
Driver Windows 7
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