Hot-Plug Capability of Intel® NVMe SSDs
A few years ago, Intel published this white paper for describing hot-plug capability of Intel® NVMe SSDs in server platforms. All the information in this white paper still holds true. This provides a few clarifications for customer questions we have seen over time.
Q: In the section 2 of BKM, how do I set slot capabilities register and slot control register? Are these settings in BIOS or OS?
Slot registers are set by the board/platform manufacturer, and it's part of the BIOS/PCIe specification. You can't change them.
Q: Where do I get the latest hot-plug test plan?
We stopped updating it, as every new platform supports hot-plug on U.2. It has become a commodity.
Q: It seems that this white paper is quite old--more than three years. Are there any updates? Anything regarding VMD?
Yes, it is quite old, but hot plug on U.2 has now become a standard feature. We still test it and validate it but all manufacturers now are well versed in the subject. VMD helps make hot-plug even easier and better.