Windows Server now with native NVMe

[harlan4096]

Microsoft used the word “revolution” to describe a new “Native NVMe” path in Windows Server 2025, announced on December 16, 2025. The timing is funny, since NVMe has been mainstream long enough that plenty of admins no longer remember their first NVMe drive.

Microsoft says Windows Server has long routed NVMe I/O through a SCSI-shaped storage path, which adds translation and kernel overhead. Native NVMe is meant to remove that translation and let the OS talk to NVMe devices in a way that matches NVMe’s queue model. 


Source: Microsoft

Microsoft’s own DiskSpd example claims up to about 80% higher 4K random read IOPS on NTFS, plus about 45% fewer CPU cycles per I/O, versus Windows Server 2022. This is labeled as ‘general availability,’ but it is opt-in and disabled by default after the October cumulative update, with enablement done via a registry key.

Microsoft also says you only see a difference if the drive is using the in-box StorNVMe.sys driver, not a vendor driver.


Source: Microsoft

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