GBNVMe

GBNVMe is a term used to describe a conceptual extension of the NVMe (Non-Volatile Memory Express) protocol designed to enable access to NVMe devices over large-scale fabric networks, including inter-data center links and campus-area networks. The goal is to deliver low-latency, high-throughput I/O to remote NVMe devices while preserving the NVMe command set and semantics. In this view, GBNVMe would extend NVMe over fabrics beyond traditional data-center boundaries and introduce mechanisms for global addressing, cross-site namespace sharing, and coordinated access to remote storage.

Architecturally, GBNVMe envisions a layered stack that combines a transport layer, a fabric service layer, and a command layer that remains compatible with NVMe commands. Transport options could include high-performance fabrics such as RDMA over Converged Ethernet (RoCE) or InfiniBand. The fabric service layer would handle discovery, path management, and global addressing, while the command layer would preserve NVMe semantics and queueing models. Additional features often discussed include end-to-end quality of service, data integrity across the network, security protections (encryption in transit), and replication or caching strategies to improve durability and performance across sites.

Status and adoption are uncertain. As of the last available discussions, GBNVMe has not been formalized as an industry standard by the NVM Express organization, and there are no broadly deployed implementations. It remains a theoretical or research-oriented concept used in speculative contexts to explore scaling NVMe performance and storage access across multi-site infrastructures. In practical terms, current NVMe over Fabrics solutions already address remote NVMe access within data centers, while GBNVMe represents a proposed direction rather than an established technology.