How to Check if My Server is Compatible with NVMe?

Boosting performance with high-quality or more advanced technology is always a bonus but the question of compatibility is one that must be answered for every upgrade. The same is true for NVMe. With data centers around the world moving away from SATA and SAS technology in favor of NVMe SSD drives, it has left many wondering whether their own motherboard is compatible with this newer, more advanced form of storage.  

Not sure what NVMe is or what it is capable of? We have you covered here!

In this article, we will demonstrate exactly how you can check if your motherboard is compatible with NVMe, or PCIe SSD technology.  

The most important thing to check is the specs table of your motherboard. This document includes all of the information you need in order to check the compatibility for your technology.  

When looking at your spec sheet, skip to the drive bay section which should look something like the following image:  

Within this section, you need to be looking for phrases such as “up to 8 NVMe” or “NVMe SSD max”. As you can see from the image above, this motherboard includes the following phrase, “up to 8 NVMe SSD max 76.8TB.” With the inclusion of this statement, we know this motherboard supports NVMe technology up to 76.8TB of memory. 

Terms such as PCIe or M.2 are also important to look out for on your specs sheet as they can often be used interchangeably or in conjunction with NVMe. However, do not take these terms at face value as older forms of SSD technology, such as SAS and SATA are also compatible with PCIe (3.0) and SATA SSDs can come in the M.2 form factor. The inclusion of these terms, when combined with NVMe, will point towards server compatibility.  

If your server specs table explicitly states that it does not support NVMe/ PCIe/ M.2, the component will only be compatible with SATA or SAS storage drives. Furthermore, if your specs table makes no mention of these words within the storage section, it is safe to assume that your motherboard is not compatible with NVMe. 

For more information on the value that NVMe could bring to your IT system and why it may be important to consider for the future, head to our NVMe knowledge hub or get in touch with our experienced team.  

For those whose motherboards are compatible with NVMe... that’s great news! Upgrading to NVMe is an optimal choice to help to enhance the performance of your device. Find out more about our range of NVMe SSDs by both Ortial and KIOXIA here or get in touch with our team who can talk you through your best options in a more personalized way.