UNH-IOL Plugfest #16 Performs Product Testing for NVMe Integrator’s List

The UNH-IOL wrapped up the NVMe® Plugfest #16 where members tested their NVMe SSD and NVMe-oF™ products against the NVMe and NVMe-oF test specification. The primary goal of the Plugfest is to qualify products for the NVMe Integrator’s List or the NVMe-oF Integrator's List. This past event tested nine devices from six different companies which took place over the course of two-weeks, virtually.

At the UNH-IOL, test plans serve as a beneficial and informational indicator towards industry and script preparedness. Test plans include updates from NVMe.org that have been ratified for interoperability and conformance test plans. As approved by the Technical Work Group and Board of Directors, informational only (FYI tests) are not required to be added onto the Integrator’s List. Of the devices tested, there were six PCIe NVMe SSDs, one over-Fabrics target, one switch, and one over-Fabrics initiator.

Some NVMe Base changes have also been made for our conformance plans (PCle and oF testing). In regards to NVMe-PCle, 33 tests have moved from FYI to Mandatory, as well as 18 NVMe-oF™ Base tests. 29 new NVMe® and oF tests have also been added in reference to sanitize features, controller-level features across resets, and determining effects of flush on ECN sanitize features. For our NVMe-oF Test, specific to fabrics conformance only, one test has moved from FYI to mandatory (3.2.2.) which deals with traffic based keep-alive. Five new tests were also added dealing with Scatter Gather List or SGL Management, PDU Header Digest Enabled, and PDU Data Digest Enabled. Furthermore, four documents were ratified by NVMe which includes TP6016b, TP6013, ECN002, and 6015. Additionally, 28 new MI tests for our NVMe-MI Test Plan were written by the IOL pending implementation from Teledyne LeCroy.Each area adds a number, equaling up to 18, with some being get-set features or extended namesake of verification of vital product data (VPD). Verification reset of any management endpoint will not affect any other endpoints. 

More recently, the UNH-IOL introduced and tested the NVMe-ZNS test plan at Plugfest #16, where 34 FYI’s moved to Mandatory. Since the initial test date, 123 new tests have been added with a combined total of 201 added ZNS tests. Features target Sanitize, Flush, Verify, Compare, Copy, & ECN as well as Zone Active Resources. 

Moving away from conformance testing, minimal changes have been made in terms of interoperability plans. The NVMe-PCle test plan now includes a new 1.11 test to check ID uniqueness for any kind of NVMe tested device. As for NVMe-oF, there has been no changes as of now. 

In anticipation of our next Plugfest in Spring 2022, we will be testing the new 2.0 refactored test plans that are based on the specifications developed by NVMexpress.org's Technical Work Group. These new 2.0 (Version 17 of the test plans) refactored test plans will contain the same existing conformance tests that are present in the current Version 16 test plans, just renumbered and potentially placed in different test plans to follow the 2.0 specification refactoring. Old test case numbering will be present to further ease the transition. There will be a limited number of new test cases being added to these newly refactored test plans.

As a final note, the UNH-IOL INTERACT conformance application, used to perform conformance testing to attain Integrator's List status, will be changing in accordance with the new refactored test plans and test cases.