By NVM Express Inc.
Publication Date: 2026-08-05 23:04:00
NVM Express Inc. has released the latest set of its 11 NVMe specifications, introducing enhancements designed to improve security, manageability, and sustainability for storage systems supporting AI, cloud, enterprise, and client applications.
The update is led by the NVMe 2.4 Base Specification and includes revised command set specifications, transport specifications, the NVMe Management Interface (NVMe-MI) 2.2 Specification, and NVMe Boot 1.4 Specification.
A major addition is support for post-quantum cryptography (PQC), extending NVMe’s security framework to address future threats posed by quantum computing. The specifications incorporate support for NIST-approved quantum-resistant algorithms, strengthening end-to-end data protection between host systems and solid-state drives (SSDs).
The release also introduces several management enhancements aimed at improving storage efficiency in virtualized and cloud environments.
One new capability, PCIe Exported NVM Subsystem Migration, extends NVMe virtualization to locally attached PCIe SSDs by abstracting physical drives into host-defined virtualized NVM subsystems. This allows virtual machines to migrate without requiring storage reconfiguration or extensive hypervisor-based emulation, helping cloud providers improve workload mobility.
Another addition, Rate Limiting, introduces controller-based quality-of-service (QoS) controls that enforce bandwidth and IOPS limits…