Windows Server 2025 - NVMe Configuration for Maximum Performance

Revolution Native NVMe Support

Windows Server 2025 introduces revolutionary native NVMe support , which eliminates 14 years of dependence on SCSI emulation and provides direct access to NVMe capabilities.

In April 2024, Microsoft unveiled the Windows Server 2025 roadmap, which described NVMe support for the OS and detailed significant performance improvements over Windows Server 2022. The company promised a colossal increase in IOPS performance (input-output per second) by 70% thanks to a new optimized function.

In December 2025, when Microsoft confirmed that this feature was recently implemented in Windows Server 2025 and received the status of public access. The company confirmed that the recent Patch Tuesday October 2025 update for Server 2025 ( KB5066835 ) adds built-in NVMe support, although it's currently only available on an optional basis, meaning administrators will need to manually enable it, as it won't be enabled by default.

Microsoft now claims an increase in performance of approximately 80% in IOPS units, which is 10 percentage points more than previously promised. This suggests that further optimizations helped improve performance even more. In addition, an economy of approximately 45% of CPU cycles per I/O operation is promised for random reading of 4K files on NTFS volumes.

If you're wondering, Windows Server 2025 will no longer recognize all storage devices as Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) by default, a standard originally developed for spinning disks such as hard drives.

Microsoft emphasized all the improvements that the new built-in NVMe support for solid state drives provides:

• A significant increase in IOPS: direct access to NVMe devices through several queues allows you to finally reach the true limits of your equipment's capabilities.

• Reduced latency: Traditional SCSI stacks rely on separable locks and synchronization mechanisms in the kernel's I/O path to manage resources. Built-in NVMe provides optimized input-output paths without blocking, which significantly reduces the time of each operation.

• CPU efficiency: a more compact and optimized architecture frees up computing resources for your workloads, not for data storage costs.

• Future-proof features: Built-in support for advanced NVMe capabilities, such as multi-queue processing and direct data transfer, ensures you're ready for next-generation storage innovations.

Key Performance Improvements

Test results from Microsoft:

• Up to 80% increase in IOPS on 4K random read workloads
• Up to 45% reduction in CPU usage per I/O operation
• Elimination of latency from the SCSI translation layer
• Multi-queue support for up to 64,000 queues instead of 1 SCSI queue

Requirements for Native NVMe

System Requirements

Requirement	Details
Operating system	Windows Server 2025 + KB5066835 (October 2025 update or newer)
Driver	Microsoft StorNVMe.sys (standard Windows NVMe driver)
Hardware	NVMe SSD (PCIe Gen3/4/5)
Recommended	PCIe Gen5 NVMe for maximum performance

IMPORTANT: If vendor-specific drivers (Samsung, Intel/Solidigm) are used, Native NVMe will NOT work. A standard Microsoft driver is required.

Step-by-step instructions for enabling Native NVMe

Method 1: Registry (For Single Servers)

Step 1: Install Updates

# Убедитесь, что установлен KB5066835 или новее
 Get-HotFix | Where-Object {$_.HotFixID -eq "KB5066835"}

Step 2: Check Current Driver

 # Проверьте, что используется Microsoft NVMe драйвер
 Get-PnpDevice -Class "DiskDrive" | Get-PnpDeviceProperty -KeyName DEVPKEY_Device_DriverProvider

Step 3: Enable Native NVMe via Registry

 # Откройте PowerShell с правами администратора и выполните:
 reg add HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Policies\Microsoft\FeatureManagement\Overrides /v 1176759950 /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

Step 4: Reboot

 Restart-Computer -Force

Method 2: Group Policy (For Multiple Servers)

Step 1: Download the Group Policy MSI

• Download Group Policy MSI from Microsoft
• Install on a domain controller

Step 2: Configure GPOs

1. Open the Group Policy Management Console (gpmc.msc)
2. Create a new GPO or modify an existing one
3. Go to:

    Local Computer Policy > Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > KB5066835 251014_21251 Feature Preview > Windows 11, version 24H2, 25H2
   

4. Enable the policy for Native NVMe support
5. Apply the GPO to the required servers

Step 3: Update Group Policy

 gpupdate /force
 Restart-Computer -Force

Verification of successful inclusion

Method 1: Device Manager

1. Open Device Manager (devmgmt.msc)
2. Find the "Storage disks" or "Disk drives" section
3. NVMe devices should be clearly displayed under this section
4. Check the properties of the driver - it should be StorNVMe.sys

Method 2: PowerShell Verification

 # Проверьте NVMe devices
 Get-PnpDevice -Class "DiskDrive" | Where-Object {$_.FriendlyName -like "*NVMe*"}

 # Проверьте driver details
 Get-PnpDevice -Class "DiskDrive" | Get-PnpDeviceProperty -KeyName DEVPKEY_Device_DriverVersion

 # Проверьте что используется новый stack
 Get-StorageSubSystem | Select-Object FriendlyName, HealthStatus, Model

Method 3: Performance Monitor

Configuring IOPS Monitoring:

1. Open Performance Monitor (perfmon.msc)
2. Add a counter: Physical Disk > Disk Transfers/sec
3. Select the appropriate NVMe drive
4. Start monitoring

Performance testing

Using DiskSpd for Benchmark

Installing DiskSpd:

 # Скачайте DiskSpd от Microsoft
 # https://github.com/Microsoft/diskspd

Basic Test (4K Random Read):

 # Тест используемый Microsoft для демонстрации 80% gain
 diskspd.exe -b4k -r -Su -t8 -L -o32 -W10 -d30 C:\testfile.dat

Test parameters:

• -b4k - Block size 4KB
• -r - Random I/O
• -Su - Disable software caching
• -t8 - 8 threads
• -L - Measure latency
• -o32 - Outstanding I/O operations 32
• -W10 - Warmup 10 seconds
• -d30 - Duration 30 seconds

Advanced Tests:

 # Sequential Read Test 
diskspd.exe -b128k -d60 -Sh -L -o32 -t4 -r -w0 C:\testfile.dat

 # Sequential Write Test
 diskspd.exe -b128k -d60 -Sh -L -o32 -t4 -r -w100 C:\testfile.dat

 # Mixed Read/Write (70% read, 30% write)
 diskspd.exe -b4k -d60 -Sh -L -o32 -t8 -r -w30 C:\testfile.dat

Configuration Optimization for Different Workloads

1. SQL Server and OLTP Databases

Recommended Settings:

 # Настройте MPIO для multi-path I/O (если применимо)
 Enable-WindowsOptionalFeature -Online -FeatureName "MultiPathIO" -All

 # Оптимизируйте queue depth для SQL
 # Используйте Device Manager > NVMe Properties > Advanced

SQL Server Specific:

 -- Проверьте latency в SQL Server
 SELECT
 database_name,
 file_id,
 io_stall_read_ms,
 io_stall_write_ms,
 num_of_reads,
 num_of_writes 
FROM sys.dm_io_virtual_file_stats(NULL, NULL) AS divfs

2. Hyper-V and Virtualization

NVMe for VM Storage:

 # Создайте VM с NVMe storage для максимальной производительности
 New-VM -Name "VM1" -MemoryStartupBytes 8GB -Generation 2

 # Добавьте NVMe диск
 New-VHD -Path "D:\VMs\VM1\disk.vhdx" -SizeBytes 500GB -Dynamic
 Add-VMHardDiskDrive -VMName "VM1" -Path "D:\VMs\VM1\disk.vhdx"

 # Включите Storage QoS для контроля IOPS
 Set-VMHardDiskDrive -VMName "VM1" -MinimumIOPS 100 -MaximumIOPS 10000

3. Storage Spaces Direct (S2D)

Configuration for S2D Campus Cluster:

Requirements:

• All-flash storage (only NVMe or SSD)
• Inter-rack latency ≤ 1ms
• RDMA networking is recommended
• Windows Server 2025 native NVMe support

Adjustment:

 # Включите Storage Spaces Direct 
Enable-ClusterStorageSpacesDirect -PoolFriendlyName "S2D Pool" -CacheState Enabled

 # Create a volume optimized for NVMe
 New-Volume -FriendlyName "Volume1" -FileSystem CSVFS_ReFS -StoragePoolFriendlyName "S2D Pool" -Size 1TB -ResiliencySettingName Mirror

 # Check health
 Get-StoragePool | Get-PhysicalDisk

4. File Server and SMB

Optimization for File Serving:

 # Включите SMB Direct (RDMA) для низкой latency
 Set-SmbServerConfiguration -EnableSMBQUIC $true

 # Настройте SMB Multichannel
 Set-SmbClientConfiguration -EnableMultiChannel $true

 # Оптимизируйте SMB для NVMe
 Set-SmbServerConfiguration -MaxThreadsPerQueue 256

Advanced Configuration Settings

Registry Tweaks for Performance

 # Оптимизируйте NTFS для NVMe
 # Disable Last Access Time (уменьшает write operations) 
fsutil behavior set disablelastaccess 1

 # Increase NTFS memory usage for cache
 fsutil behavior set memory usage 2

 # Configure MPIO recovery interval (if used)
 reg add "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\mpio\Parameters" /v PathRecoveryInterval /t REG_DWORD /d 30 /f
 reg add "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\mpio\Parameters" /v UseCustomPathRecoveryInterval /t REG_DWORD /d 1 /f

Power Management Optimization

 # Настройте power plan для максимальной производительности
 powercfg /setactive 8c5e7fda-e8bf-4a96-9a85-a6e23a8c635c

 # Отключите power saving для NVMe devices
 # Device Manager > NVMe Controller > Properties > Power Management
 # Снимите галочку "Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power"

Write Cache Optimization

 # Включите write caching (если безопасно с UPS/battery backup) 
# Use only with proper power protection!

 # PowerShell command to enable write caching
 $disks = Get-PhysicalDisk | Where-Object {$_.BusType -eq "NVMe"}
 foreach ($disk in $disks) {
 Set-PhysicalDisk -UniqueId $disk.UniqueId -Usage AutoSelect
 }

Monitoring and Troubleshooting

Performance Monitoring Setup

Create a Custom Data Collector Set:

 # Создайте performance baseline
 $counterSets = @(
 "\PhysicalDisk(*)\Disk Read Bytes/sec",
 "\PhysicalDisk(*)\Disk Write Bytes/sec",
 "\PhysicalDisk(*)\Disk Reads/sec",
 "\PhysicalDisk(*)\Disk Writes/sec",
 "\PhysicalDisk(*)\Avg. Disk sec/Read",
 "\PhysicalDisk(*)\Avg. Disk sec/Write",
 "\PhysicalDisk(*)\Current Disk Queue Length",
 "\Processor(*)\% Processor Time",
 "\Memory\Available MBytes"
 )

 # Создайте data collector set
 $collectorSet = New-Object -COM Pla.DataCollectorSet
 $collectorSet.DisplayName = "NVMe Performance Monitor" 
$collectorSet.Duration = 3600 # 1 hour
 $collectorSet.SchedulesEnabled = $true

Windows Admin Center Monitoring

1. Open Windows Admin Center
2. Connect to the server
3. Go to the Storage section
4. Monitor:
   • IOPS (read/write)
   • Throughput (MB/s)
   • Latency (ms)
   • Queue depth

Troubleshooting Common Issues

Problem 1: Native NVMe does not activate

 # Проверьте, что используется Microsoft driver
 Get-PnpDevice -Class "DiskDrive" | Get-PnpDeviceProperty | Where-Object {$_.KeyName -like "*Driver*"}

 # Если используется vendor driver, переключитесь на Microsoft driver:
 # Device Manager > NVMe Controller > Update Driver > Browse > Let me pick > Standard NVMe Driver

Problem 2: Performance did not improve

# Проверьте, что registry key установлен правильно
 Get-ItemProperty -Path "HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Policies\Microsoft\FeatureManagement\Overrides" -Name "1176759950"

 # Проверьте Event Viewer для ошибок
 Get-EventLog -LogName System -Source "stornvme" -Newest 50

Problem 3: Compatibility Issues

• Some consumer-grade NVMe may show reduced performance
• PCIe Gen5 drives show the highest gain
• Older NVMe (Gen3) may have a smaller improvement

Best Practices and Recommendations

Do's (Recommended):

1. Test in a lab environment first before production deployment
2. Create a full backup before enabling Native NVMe
3. Monitor performance before and after to measure real gains
4. Use enterprise-grade NVMe for critical applications
5. Update the firmware of NVMe drives to the latest versions
6. Check compatibility with vendor-specific drivers

Don'ts (Not recommended):

1. Do not include in production without testing
2. Do not use with vendor-specific drivers (will not work)
3. Do not expect gains on old hardware (PCIe Gen3/4)
4. Do not turn off unnecessarily after successful activation
5. Do not forget about UPS if aggressive write caching is enabled

Expected Results by Workload Types

SQL Server / OLTP

• Transaction throughput : +40-60% increase
• Query latency : -30-50% reduction
• CPU overhead : -40-45% on I/O operations

Hyper-V VMs

• VM IOPS : +60-80% improvement
• VM boot time : -20-30% faster
• Storage latency : -40-50% less

File Server / SMB

• Throughput : +50-70% on sequential workloads
• IOPS : +70-80% on random workloads
• Concurrent users : +30-50% more supported users

Storage Spaces Direct

• Cluster performance : +60-75% IOPS
• Rebuild speed : +40-50% faster
• Resync operations : -30-40% time

Conclusion

Native NVMe support in Windows Server 2025 is a fundamental improvement of the storage stack, which eliminates the 14-year-old limitation of SCSI emulation.

Key Advantages:

• Up to 80% increase in IOPS on enterprise workloads
• Up to 45% reduction in CPU overhead on storage operations
• A significant reduction in latency for all types of I/O
• Multi-queue architecture uses the full potential of NVMe
• Future-proof for the next generations of NVMe hardware

Recommendations for Implementation:

1. Start with a non-production environment for testing
2. Measure baseline performance before switching on
3. Gradually roll out to production servers
4. Monitor closely for the first few days
5. Use Windows Admin Center for centralized monitoring

This improvement is especially valuable for organizations with I/O-intensive workloads such as databases, virtualization platforms, and high-performance file services.