topic Re: ssd virtualization feature support in Solid State Drives (NAND)

ssd virtualization feature support

Atayl7 — Mon, 25 Jun 2018 05:03:31 GMT

I've been researching on the virtualizaion on SSD, mainly the sriov feature. I had the intel DC P4600 drive.

But neither in the official product page nor in this community could I find relevant info about the sriov, e.g. the max supported num of PFs and VFs,

virtualization management cmd, hardware and software setup(there is very detail info for networking product).

I'd appreciate that someone can provide the info or hint.

Re: ssd virtualization feature support

idata — Mon, 25 Jun 2018 16:07:16 GMT

Hello taylorA,

Thank you for your interest in the Intel® SSD DC P4600 Series. I understand that you would like more information regarding the implementation of virtualization technologies on your Intel® SSD DC P4600. As mentioned in this thread /thread/119651 https://communities.intel.com/thread/119651: "… our NVMe* Data Center drives are designed to be used with broad of the virtualization technologies in the market, and that includes SR-IOV." The previous applies to the Intel® SSD DC P4600 Series. I noticed that you recently posted an inquiry in that thread, so you I would suggest (if you haven't already) to check the setup information in the article shared: https://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/single-root-inputoutput-virtualization-sr-iov-with-linux-containers# _Toc434917175 https://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/single-root-inputoutput-virtualization-sr-iov-with-linux-containers# _Toc434917175 There you can see that the corresponding SR-IOV setup process involves configuring the BIOS as well as the OS. As a side note, since I/O virtualization is mostly considered when using an adapter in a server, you may want to check the following article: https://www.intel.com/content/dam/www/public/us/en/documents/technology-briefs/xl710-sr-iov-config-guide-gbe-linux-brief.pdf https://www.intel.com/content/dam/www/public/us/en/documents/technology-briefs/xl710-sr-iov-config-guide-gbe-linux-brief.pdf. Although the article is focused on the configuration of an Ethernet adapter, the Server setup and VM setup sections may provide further insight, especially since the SR-IOV configuration has more to do with the BIOS and the OS chosen. Regards,Andres V.

Re: ssd virtualization feature support

Atayl7 — Tue, 26 Jun 2018 06:13:22 GMT

Thanks.I read the two articles you mentioned here. I have 3 questions:

1、My board is GA-Z270-HD3:https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/GA-Z270-HD3-rev-10# support-manual https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/GA-Z270-HD3-rev-10# support-manual. Bios has VT-D option, no VT or SRIOV option.

Is it qualified for intel sriov?

2、Does inte1 design the driver for intel ssd? From what i can see you does for nic, and pass the

3、In https://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/single-root-inputoutput-virtualization-sr-iov-with-linux-containers# _Toc434917175 https://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/single-root-inputoutput-virtualization-sr-iov-with-linux-containers# _Toc434917175, intel_iommu=off is passed to kernel, while in another case use the intel_iommu=on.

which is correct?

Re: ssd virtualization feature support

idata — Tue, 26 Jun 2018 15:14:48 GMT

Hello taylorA,

I would gladly try to answer your questions regarding virtualization, although, please keep in mind that specific topic is out of the scope of this technical support team: 1. I checked the motherboard's manual that you shared and there is no specific mention of SR-IOV compatibility, so you should contact your motherboard's manufacturer in order to receive the adequate support (https://www.gigabyte.com/us/Support/Technical-Support https://www.gigabyte.com/us/Support/Technical-Support). Also, you may be interested in the following paragraph from the PCI-SIG SR-IOV Primer – An Introduction to SR-IOV Technology (https://www.intel.com/content/dam/doc/application-note/pci-sig-sr-iov-primer-sr-iov-technology-paper.pdf https://www.intel.com/content/dam/doc/application-note/pci-sig-sr-iov-primer-sr-iov-technology-paper.pdf) page 25: Many components within the system and software need to work in conjunction to provide a robust SR-IOV solution. The platform must have some sort of Address Translation Service support (such as the Intel® VT-d technology) to allow SR-IOV-capable devices to DMA data directly to the memory space of a virtual machine. My interpretation is that enabling the VT-d option on your motherboard is the first step to use SR-IOV capable devices. But again, your motherboard's manufacturer should confirm that statement. 2. Intel provides datacenter NVMe* Microsoft Windows drivers via this link https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/27517/Datacenter-NVMe-Microsoft-Windows-Drivers-for-Intel-SSDs?product=35125 https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/27517/Datacenter-NVMe-Microsoft-Windows-Drivers-for-Intel-SSDs?product=35125. Intel NVMe* SSDs are supported out-of-the-box on most Linux* distributions, and Intel also provides a driver for VMware's ESXi* which can be downloaded here https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/searchresults?c=ALL&q=nvme https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/searchresults?c=ALL&q=nvme.3. According to the article provided, you have to perform the corresponding configuration by passing the parameter intel_iommu=off to the kernel. Regards,Andres V.

Re: ssd virtualization feature support

Atayl7 — Wed, 27 Jun 2018 03:12:16 GMT

Thanks for your interpretation, I will do some further research and experiment.

Best Regards