NVMe Memory Tiering Architecture Guidance

Plan your VMware Cloud Foundation 9 Memory Tiering deployment with intelligent sizing, compatibility checking, and cost analysis based on official VMware guidance.

Memory Sizing Calculator

Current or planned DRAM per host

Average active memory across workloads

Higher ratios require lower active memory

Sizing Results

DRAM:1024 GB
NVMe:1024 GB
Total Memory:2048 GB
Active Memory:614 GB (30%)
Cost Savings:46.9%

Key Sizing Principles

Rule 1Active Memory ≤ 50%

Total active memory should be 50% or less of DRAM capacity to ensure active pages stay in fast DRAM tier.

Rule 2Partition Size: 4TB Max

NVMe partitions support up to 4TB. Purchase larger devices for future ratio adjustments without repartitioning.

Rule 3Ratio Flexibility

DRAM:NVMe ratio can be changed dynamically (1:1 to 1:4) without recreating partitions, enabling workload adaptation.

Workload Limitations (VCF 9.0)

Memory Tiering is NOT suitable for the following workload types:

High-Performance VMsLatency-Sensitive VMsFault Tolerance VMsSecurity VMs (SEV/SGX/TDX)Monster VMs (1TB+ memory)

For mixed environments, dedicate hosts or disable Memory Tiering at the VM level.

Additional Resources

Broadcom Compatibility GuideVMware TechDocs - Memory Tiering

Based on VMware Cloud Foundation 9 NVMe Memory Tiering Design and Sizing guidance (5-part blog series by Dave Morera, Broadcom).