Linux NVMe Simple-Copy Support Inches Closer To The Kernel

Another one of the features you won't find in the Linux 5.11 kernel is support for the recently ratified NVMe Simple Copy but work on supporting that feature continues.

Last month we wrote about Linux preparing support for the NVMe Simple Copy command that allows for copying multiple contiguous ranges to a single destination LBA with that copy operation being handled by the SSD controller.

The NVMe Simple Copy specification was ratified in 2020 and it's looking like the Linux kernel could soon see support for it. Among the initial use-cases in mind for this command are during F2FS garbage collection or Btrfs relocation/balancing.

Kicking off this Monday, the fourth spin of these simple copy patches were posted to the kernel mailing list. This latest version of the patches continue to provide various fixes and low-level code improvements. The patches have been addressing various feedback pointed out during the earlier review and also ensuring the code can be built upon in the future if wanting to support the similar SCSI XCOPY functionality.

The latest NVMe Simple Copy patches for the Linux kernel can be found on lore.kernel.org. Samsung engineers are the ones currently leading this support effort with the interest and cooperation of other storage vendors.