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Let’s talk storage: NVMe, ReFS, and what’s coming next
ITOpsTalk
Overview
This video discusses advancements in Windows storage technologies, focusing on native NVMe for enhanced performance, the evolution and future of the ReFS file system for data integrity and scalability, and the landscape of software-defined storage (SDS) solutions. It also introduces post-quantum cryptography (PQC) as a critical security measure for future-proofing against quantum computing threats. The presenters highlight new features, previews, and best practices for implementing these technologies in enterprise environments, emphasizing performance gains, data protection, flexibility, and long-term security.
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Chapters
- Native NVMe in Windows Server 2025 overhauls the storage stack to directly leverage NVMe hardware, bypassing legacy SCSI translation layers for significant performance gains.
- Key benefits of native NVMe include multi-queuing capabilities and increased command depth, leading to up to 80% IOPS improvement, 45% CPU cycle savings, and 40% latency reduction.
- Native NVMe is an opt-in feature on Windows Server 2025, requiring a registry key or group policy change and the use of the inbox Windows NVMe driver.
- NVMe over Fabrics (NVMe-oF) aims to deliver near-local NVMe performance for remote storage, supporting modern SAN connectivity via protocols like NVMe over TCP and NVMe over RDMA.
- NVMe-oF is currently in preview for Windows Server vNext, with initial support for initiator functionality, and plans to add advanced features like multi-pathing and PowerShell cmdlets.
These advancements in NVMe technology are crucial for maximizing the performance of modern, high-speed storage hardware, enabling faster data access and processing for demanding workloads.
A demo showed performance monitor data transitioning from 1.8 million to 3.3 million IOPS after enabling native NVMe, with reduced CPU utilization.
- ReFS (Resilient File System) has evolved from a specialized backup file system to a foundational component for data volumes and boot volumes in future Windows Server versions.
- Modern file systems like ReFS are essential for enterprise storage, focusing on resilience, data integrity (via metadata checksums and user data integrity streams), and performance, especially with NVMe hardware.
- ReFS supports massive scalability with volumes and files up to 35 petabytes and offers performance benefits for virtualization through features like block cloning and sparse VDL.
- ReFS boot is now available in preview for Windows Server Insiders, supporting UEFI firmware and requiring a WinRE partition, allowing the OS to boot from a ReFS formatted volume.
- New ReFS snapshots PowerShell cmdlets are available in preview, offering capabilities like creating, restoring, and exporting snapshots, with automation and retention policy support.
ReFS is positioned as the file system of the future, providing built-in data integrity and scalability necessary for modern AI-driven data growth and performance-optimized storage infrastructure.
A demo showcased the ReFS boot flow, demonstrating the ability to select ReFS during the Windows Server setup process and verify the C drive is ReFS formatted post-installation.
- Windows Server 2025 offers flexible software-defined storage solutions to meet diverse deployment needs, from edge to large data centers, emphasizing data integrity, resiliency, performance, and scalability.
- Storage Spaces provides a single-server solution pooling local disks for resiliency and integrity without requiring external storage arrays.
- Storage Spaces Direct (S2D) enables clustered storage pooling across servers for data center deployments, supporting hyper-converged or disaggregated models and scaling across various cluster sizes.
- S2D offers advanced configurations like campus clusters for multi-rack, same-campus deployments, featuring fault domain awareness and optimizations like rack-local reads to reduce latency.
- Microsoft's SDS strategy supports integration with existing SANs and offers practical, repeatable, and manageable solutions adaptable to operational constraints like hardware availability and cost.
Software-defined storage in Windows Server provides the flexibility and adaptability needed for modern IT infrastructures, allowing organizations to build resilient and performant storage solutions tailored to their specific environments and budgets.
The presentation mentioned Storage Spaces Boot, which allows the OS to boot from a mirrored storage space volume, ideal for edge or remote sites where shared storage is impractical.
- Quantum computers pose a future threat to current asymmetric encryption algorithms (like RSA, Diffie-Hellman) by potentially breaking them using Shor's algorithm.
- Post-quantum cryptography (PQC) refers to cryptographic algorithms believed to be resistant to attacks from both classical and quantum computers, based on different mathematical problems like structured lattices.
- Key use cases for PQC include secure key establishment, authentication, digital signatures, secure bootstrapping, and foundational security protocols like TLS and SSH.
- NIST has standardized initial PQC algorithms (ML-KEM, ML-DSA, SLH-DSA), and organizations like the IETF and ISO are working on integrating them into protocols.
- Microsoft recommends cryptographic agility, advising the use of both traditional and PQC algorithms side-by-side during the transition and designing systems to easily swap algorithms in the future.
Understanding and preparing for post-quantum cryptography is essential to protect sensitive data and communications from future quantum computing threats, ensuring long-term data security and compliance.
A demo showed signing a document with both a traditional ECDSA certificate and a post-quantum ML-DSA certificate, then verifying both signatures on another device, illustrating hybrid cryptographic approaches.
- Microsoft has integrated PQC algorithms (ML-KEM, ML-DSA, XMSS, LMS) into its SymCrypt library and exposed them via Cryptography API Next Generation (CNG) in Windows Server 2025 and Windows 11.
- Windows TLS stack (SChannel) is implementing TLS hybrid key exchange using ML-KEM with traditional algorithms, available in preview builds and coming soon to general releases.
- PQC support is primarily focused on TLS 1.3, requiring migration to this newer protocol version for quantum-safe communication.
- Configuration of PQC algorithms can be managed via TLS PowerShell cmdlets, Group Policy, or Mobile Device Management (MDM) for scalable deployment.
- Microsoft's chip-to-cloud security model is integrating PQC across all layers, from hardware roots of trust to cloud services, to ensure comprehensive quantum safety.
Early adoption and testing of PQC features in Windows, combined with a strategy of cryptographic agility, allows organizations to proactively prepare for the quantum-safe future and secure their systems against emerging threats.
The presentation detailed how to enable and prioritize new hybrid PQC key exchange groups in TLS 1.3 using PowerShell cmdlets or Group Policy settings.
Key takeaways
- Native NVMe significantly boosts storage performance in Windows Server 2025 by optimizing the interaction with modern NVMe hardware.
- ReFS is evolving to become the default file system, offering enhanced data integrity, resilience, and scalability for future workloads, including AI.
- Windows Server provides flexible software-defined storage options, allowing organizations to choose solutions that fit their specific deployment needs and constraints.
- Quantum computing poses a serious future threat to current encryption, necessitating a transition to post-quantum cryptography.
- Microsoft is actively integrating PQC algorithms into Windows and its security stack, recommending a hybrid approach and cryptographic agility during the transition.
- Organizations should begin inventorying their cryptographic usage and experimenting with PQC solutions to prepare for a quantum-safe future.
Key terms
NVMe (Non-Volatile Memory Express)NVMe over Fabrics (NVMe-oF)ReFS (Resilient File System)Software-Defined Storage (SDS)Storage Spaces Direct (S2D)Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC)Quantum ComputerML-KEM (Module Lattice Key Encapsulation Mechanism)ML-DSA (Module Lattice Digital Signature Standard)TLS 1.3Cryptographic Agility
Test your understanding
- How does native NVMe improve storage performance compared to legacy paths, and what are the key benefits?
- What are the primary reasons for ReFS to become the default file system in future Windows Server versions, and what new capabilities are being introduced?
- Describe the different software-defined storage solutions offered in Windows Server 2025, and how do they cater to varied deployment scenarios?
- Why is post-quantum cryptography necessary, and what is the 'harvest now, decrypt later' threat?
- How can organizations begin preparing for post-quantum cryptography, and what role does cryptographic agility play in this transition?