Configuring Intel VMD

VMD must be enabled on PCIe ports which have NVMe drives attached to them in order for those drives to be added to a VROC RAID configuration. The default BIOS setting for the NVMe Mode Switch is Auto which automatically enables VMD on all installed NVMe drives.

NVMe Mode Switch:

  • Auto: Enables VMD for all NVMe ports if VROC Key is installed.

  • VMD: Enables VMD for all NVMe ports despite the lack of the VROC Key.

  • Manual: Allows the user to select specific NVMe ports on which to enable VMD.

The NVMe Mode Switch can be viewed or selected at BIOS > Advanced > Chipset Configuration > North Bridge > IIO Configuration > Intel® VMD Technology.

Note: Without a VROC Key, there is no RAID support with the Auto switch. Only RAID 0 is supported with the VMD and Manual switches.

Configuring VMD Manually

The steps for manually configuring VMD on specific NVMe ports in UEFI BIOS are shown below. Example screenshots may differ from your server.

Important: 

  • If there is an existing RAID configuration, delete the RAID volume associated with the VMD controller before disabling the controller. Failure to do so may lead to unexpected behavior.

  • The effects of physically changing or swapping a CPU on the VMD controller have not been thoroughly tested or documented.

  1. Reboot the server and press [DEL] key to access the BIOS options.

  2. Switch to Advanced > Chipset Configuration > North Bridge > IIO Configuration > Intel® VMD Technology.

  3. Select VMD Mode Switch, then select Manual.

    Note that Socket 0 contains CPU1; Socket 1 contains CPU2.

    Figure 75. BIOS, Selecting VMD Mode

  4. VMD must only be enabled on NVMe port resources. If VMD is enabled on other PCIe ports, the functionality of those ports will be impacted. See the table below.

    Select “Intel VMD for Volume Management Device on” on Socket 0 (CPU1) or Socket 1 (CPU2) to enable VMD for devices under the respective CPU.

    Figure 76. Intel VMD for Volume Management Device on Socket 0 and Socket 1

  5. Choose Enable for “Enable/Disable VMD” for IOU 3 to list the available devices under IOU 3.

    Figure 77. BIOS, Enabling VMD on Socket 1 (CPU2) (Example)

    Figure 78. BIOS, Enabling VMD on Socket 1 (Example)

  6. Enable the NVMe port resource according to table above for the NVMe drives that will be used in a RAID configuration.

    Figure 79. BIOS, Enabling Socket 1 (Example)

  7. Choose whether to make the NVMe drives in this IOU Hot Plug Capable by selecting Enabled or Disabled.

  8. Repeat steps 4 through 7 for each IOU # on each CPU to enable VMD on the desired NVMe ports.

    Figure 80. BIOS, Enabling Socket 1 Completed (Example)
    (This example shows SYS-621H-TN12R with 12 NVMe. Other systems will look different.)

  9. Press [F4] to save the configuration and reboot the system.