Ubuntu Server 24.10 Brings Experimental NVMe/TCP Installation Support

While not a long-term support release, Ubuntu Server 24.10 is delivering an interesting proof-of-concept for supporting NVMe/TCP based installations.

This Ubuntu Server 24.10 experimental support with the Subiquity installer allows for disk-less servers to install and boot with NVMe over TCP. Subiquity is able to list and format remote NVMe drives, determine firmware support around NVMe/TCP booting, and installing Ubuntu to a remote NVMe drive. This proof of concept support can work with VMs for easier local testing or where not having the appropriate hardware for handling NVMe over TCP.

This Ubuntu Server installer integration around NVMe/TCP has been ongoing the past several months. While experimental this release, the NVMe/TCP support will hopefully become stabilized by the time of Ubuntu Server 26.04 LTS and at that point NVMe/TCP will likely be much more prevalent in data centers.

Those wanting to learn more about the experimental NVMe over TCP installation support for Ubuntu Server 24.10 can find out more information via the Ubuntu Discourse thread.