Add an NVMe Controller in the VMware Host Client

If a virtual machine has multiple hard disks, you can add up to four virtual NVMe controllers to which to assign the disks. Using a NVMe controller significantly reduces the software overhead for processing guest OS I/O, as compared to AHCI SATA or SCSI controllers.

NVMe controllers perform best with virtual disks on an all-flash disk array, local NVMe SSD, and PMem storage.

Prerequisites

• Verify that the virtual machine has a guest operating system that supports NVMe.
• Verify that the virtual machine compatibility is ESXi 6.5 or later.
• Verify that you are familiar with storage controllers behavior and limitations. For more information, see the Virtual Machine Administration guide.
• Verify that you have the Virtual machine.Configuration.Add new disk privilege on the virtual machine.

Procedure

1. Click Virtual Machines in the VMware Host Client inventory.
2. Right-click a virtual machine in the list and select Edit settings from the pop-up menu.
3. Under the Virtual Hardware tab, click the Add other device icon and select NVMe controller from the drop-down menu.

Results

A new NVMe controller is added to the virtual machine.

What to do next

You can add a hard disk to the virtual machine and assign it to the NVMe controller.