Posted June 16Jun 16 [HEADING=1]Introduction[/HEADING] In the ever-evolving world of cloud computing, maximizing performance and efficiency is crucial for businesses leveraging virtual machines (VMs) on platforms like Microsoft Azure, especially for high I/O workloads like SAP on Azure or database applications. One significant upgrade that can yield substantial performance improvements is converting your Azure VM from a SCSI (Small Computer System Interface) disk setup to NVMe (Non-Volatile Memory Express) using Azure Boost. This blog post will guide you through the process of making this conversion and explore the numerous advantages of NVMe over SCSI. [HEADING=1]Advantages of Azure Boost[/HEADING] Azure Boost is a powerful enhancement tool for Azure VMs, offering the following advantages: Accelerated Disk Performance: Azure Boost optimizes disk I/O operations, significantly increasing the speed and efficiency of your VM's storage. Seamless Integration: Easily integrates with existing Azure infrastructure, allowing for a smooth transition and immediate performance benefits. Cost-Effective Optimization: By enhancing the performance of existing VMs, Azure Boost helps reduce the need for more expensive hardware upgrades or additional resources. To learn more about Azure Boost visit our documentation or the announcement blog. [HEADING=1]What is changing for your VM?[/HEADING] Changing the host interface from SCSI to NVMe will not change the remote storage (OS disk or data disks), but change the way the operating systems sees the disks. SCSI enabled VM NVMe enabled VM OS disk /dev/sda /dev/nvme0n1 Temp Disk /dev/sdb /dev/sda First Data Disk /dev/sdc /dev/nvme0n2 In the following sections, we'll provide a step-by-step guide to converting your Azure VM from SCSI to NVMe using Azure Boost, ensuring you can take full advantage of these performance improvements and maintain a competitive edge in the cloud computing landscape. [HEADING=1]Migrate your virtual machine (VM) from SCSI to NVMe[/HEADING] To migrate from SCSI to NVMe and benefit from higher performance some steps need to be followed: Check if your virtual machine series supports NVMe Check your operating system for NVMe readiness Convert your virtual machine to NVMe Check your operating system [HEADING=2]1. Check if your virtual machine series supports NVMe[/HEADING] The supported virtual machine SKUs to support NVMe attached disks is available in our documentation and in the table below. If your VM type is not listed below change the VM type. Size Series Series Type Deployment Status Dalsv6 General Purpose Preview Easv6 Memory Optimized Preview DCesv5 General Purpose Preview ECesv5 Memory Optimized Preview Mv3 Medium Memory High Memory to CPU Optimized Production Falsv6/Famsv6 Compute Optimized Preview Dlsv5 General Purpose Production Dsv5 General Purpose Production Esv5 Memory Optimized Production Ebsv5 Managed disks optimized Production Lsv3 Local storage optimized Production Dplsv5 General Purpose Production Dpsv5 General Purpose Production Epsv5 Memory Optimized Production Nvadsv5 GPU/AI workload optimized Production HBv4 High Performance Compute (HPC) Production HX High Performance Compute (HPC) Production As the list of supported VM families may change over time, please check the up-to-date documentation. [HEADING=2]2. Check your operating system for NVMe readiness[/HEADING] The operating system needs to support NVMe devices, this includes e.g. device drivers and initrdm, the temporary file system used during boot, need to be prepared. In addition to that you need to validate the mount points of the file systems as those will check if you use the SCSI device name (/dev/sdX). To make this process easier we created a bash script that does the prevalidation for you. [HEADING=3]2.1 Check Controller Type of VM[/HEADING] [HEADING=3]2.1.1 Check Controller Type using PowerShell[/HEADING] PS C:\Users\user1> $vm = Get-AzVM -name nvme-conversion-vm PS C:\Users\user1> $vm.StorageProfile.DiskControllerType SCSI PS C:\Users\user1> [HEADING=3]2.1.2 Check Controller Type using Azure CLI[/HEADING] $ az vm show --name nvme-conversion-vm --resource-group nvme-conversion { "additionalCapabilities": { ... "storageProfile": { ... "diskControllerType": "SCSI", ... [HEADING=3]2.1.3 Check Controller Type using Azure Portal[/HEADING] [HEADING=3]2.2 Run Preflight Check script[/HEADING] The bash script does not automatically change anything on your system, it will only provide recommendations for commands to run. This includes NVMe modules GRUB configuration /etc/fstab checks for devices To start the script use the following command (curl): curl -s -S -L https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Azure/SAP-on-Azure-Scripts-and-Utilities/main/NVMe-Preflight-Check/azure-nvme-preflight-check.sh | sh -s -- -v As an alternative you can also use wget: wget --no-verbose -O - https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Azure/SAP-on-Azure-Scripts-and-Utilities/main/NVMe-Preflight-Check/azure-nvme-preflight-check.sh | sh -s -- -v Third option is to download the script from the GitHub repository and run it manually. nvme-conversion-vm:/home/azureuser # curl -s -S -L https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Azure/SAP-on-Azure-Scripts-and-Utilities/main/NVMe-Preflight-Check/azure-nvme-preflight-check.sh | sh -s -- -v ------------------------------------------------ START of script ------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------ OK NVMe Module is installed and available on your VM ------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------ ERROR NVMe Module is not loaded in the initramfs image. mkdir -p /etc/dracut.conf.d echo 'add_drivers+=" nvme nvme-core nvme-fabrics nvme-fc nvme-rdma nvme-loop nvmet nvmet-fc nvme-tcp "' >/etc/dracut.conf.d/nvme.conf dracut -f -v ------------------------------------------------ GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="console=ttyS0 net.ifnames=0 dis_ucode_ldr earlyprintk=ttyS0 multipath=off rootdelay=300 scsi_mod.use_blk_mq=1 USE_BY_UUID_DEVICE_NAMES=1 nvme_core.io_timeout=240" ------------------------------------------------ OK GRUB contains timeouts. ------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------ OK fstab file doesn't contain device names ------------------------------------------------ Please crosscheck your /etc/fstab file ------------------------------------------------ END of script ------------------------------------------------ nvme-conversion-vm:/home/azureuser # In this example initrd and the kernel are not ready for NVMe, running the dracut commands will enable the operating system. nvme-conversion-vm:/home/azureuser # mkdir -p /etc/dracut.conf.d nvme-conversion-vm:/home/azureuser # echo 'add_drivers+=" nvme nvme-core nvme-fabrics nvme-fc nvme-rdma nvme-loop nvmet nvmet-fc nvme-tcp "' >/etc/dracut.conf.d/nvme.conf nvme-conversion-vm:/home/azureuser # dracut -f -v dracut: Executing: /usr/bin/dracut -f -v ... dracut: *** Creating initramfs image file '/boot/initrd-5.14.21-150500.55.65-default' done *** nvme-conversion-vm:/home/azureuser # reboot [HEADING=2]3. Convert your virtual machine to NVMe[/HEADING] To convert the operating system multiple steps are required. Change the metadata of the OS disk to include NVMe capabilities Change the SCSI controller to NVMe This process has also been automated using a PowerShell script. [HEADING=2]3.1 Download the PowerShell script[/HEADING] To download the PowerShell script from the GitHub repo use the following command: Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Azure/SAP-on-Azure-Scripts-and-Utilities/main/NVMe-Preflight-Check/azure-nvme-VM-update.ps1" -OutFile ".\azure-nvme-VM-update.ps1" [HEADING=3]3.2. Convert the Virtual Machine[/HEADING] To convert run the script, detailed documentation is also available on the GitHub repository. You can decide if e.g. the VM should automatically be started after the reconfiguration. .\azure-nvme-VM-update.ps1 -subscription_id XXXXXXXX-a961-4fb7-88c0-757472230e6c -resource_group_name nvme-conversion -vm_name nvme-conversion-vm -disk_controller_change_to NVMe -vm_size_change_to Standard_E64bds_v5 INFO - OS Disk found INFO - Access token generated INFO - Getting VM info INFO - Getting all VM SKUs available in Region swedencentral INFO - This will take about a minute ... INFO - Found VM SKU - Checking for Capabilities INFO - VM supports NVMe INFO - Checking for TrustedLaunch INFO - Checking if VM is stopped and deallocated INFO - Stopping VM Tenant: 72f988bf-86f1-41af-91ab-2d7cd011db47 SubscriptionName SubscriptionId Account Environment ---------------- -------------- ------- ----------- XX-XX-XX-XX XXXXXXX-a961-4fb7-88c0-757472230e6c xxxxxx@microsoft.com AzureCloud OperationId : cf02d28c-c711-4fe5-89fc-854fba31b67a Status : Succeeded StartTime : 07.06.2024 15:18:35 EndTime : 07.06.2024 15:19:17 Error : Name : INFO - Setting OS Disk to SCSI/NVMe INFO - Getting VM config to prepare new config INFO - Setting new VM size INFO - Setting disk controller for VM INFO - Updating the VM configuration RequestId : IsSuccessStatusCode : True StatusCode : OK ReasonPhrase : INFO - Not starting VM [HEADING=2]3.3 Check the result[/HEADING] [HEADING=3]3.3.1 Check result in Azure Portal[/HEADING] [HEADING=3]3.3.2 Check result in PowerShell[/HEADING] PS C:\Users> $vm = Get-AzVM -name nvme-conversion-vm PS C:\Users> $vm.StorageProfile.DiskControllerType NVMe PS C:\Users> [HEADING=1]4. Check your operating system[/HEADING] [HEADING=2]4.1 Check devices[/HEADING] You can check the devices using nvme command, if nvme command is missing install the "nvme-cli" package. nvme list The output should show the OS disk and the data disks. [HEADING=2]4.2 Get udev file for NVMe (Optional)[/HEADING] On SCSI virtual machines the udev rules integrated in waagent (Azure agent) created links in /dev/disk/azure/scsi1/lunX to identify the data disks. As SCSI is not used anymore the rules do not apply. With one of the two available options to deploy NVMe enabled udev rules you will see new symbolic links in the directory /dev/disk/azure/data/by-lun. This directory will be the replacement for /dev/disk/azure/scsi1. nvme-conversion-vm:/usr/lib/udev/rules.d # ls -l /dev/disk/azure/data/by-lun/ total 0 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 19 Jun 7 13:52 0 -> ../../../../nvme0n2 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 19 Jun 7 13:52 1 -> ../../../../nvme0n3 nvme-conversion-vm:/usr/lib/udev/rules.d # [HEADING=3]4.2.1 Manual download of udev file[/HEADING] To download the new udev rules file use this command: curl https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Azure/SAP-on-Azure-Scripts-and-Utilities/main/NVMe-Preflight-Check/88-azure-data-disk.rules --output /usr/lib/udev/rules.d/88-azure-data-disk.rules and then run udevadm control --reload-rules && udevadm trigger to reload the udev rules. [HEADING=3]4.2.2 Ready to install packages using Azure NVMe utils (GitHub - Azure/azure-nvme-utils: Azure NVMe utilities )[/HEADING] There are pre-compiled packages available on Index of /results/cjp256/azure-nvme-utils/ (copr.fedorainfracloud.org) for multiple distributions, we are working on enabling and integrating Azure NVMe utils in all major distributions. Continue reading...
11 hours ago11 hr Big performance boost. We use VM for our IT department. All development is done on a cluster.
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