Explains and describes the amount of NVMe* drives that should be connected via a PCIe* switch.
Looking to confirm how many NVMe* drives does each processor lane support when using 1x mode drives. What is the actual limitation for NVMe when using a dual socket configuration?
Intel® Xeon® Scalable Processors introduced a feature called the Intel® Volume Management Device (Intel® VMD). NVMe* drives can be connected directly to the processor's Intel VMD ports. Each processor has 12 Intel VMD ports where each port consists of 4 PCIe* lanes. Theoretically, up to 12 NVMe drives can be connected directly to the processor's VMD ports. However, the actual number of NVMe drives can vary because some Intel VMD ports may be allocated by the motherboard for other chipset functions of use of other PCIe devices and/or connected to a PCIe switch.
Four to eight NMVe drives can be connected via a PCIe switch. It is recommended to check with the motherboard or system manufacturer for the maximum number of NVMe drives supported by the board or system.
