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Explore the development of nvme-top, a real-time monitoring tool for NVMe devices and fabrics paths presented at this Linux Plumbers Conference Birds of a Feather session. Learn about the current limitations of static monitoring approaches using nvme-cli and discover why dynamic monitoring is essential for NVMe-oF (fabrics) deployments where path conditions change due to network latency, congestion, or link failures. Understand the motivation behind creating a tool similar to iotop or top that provides continuous visibility into device and path health, enabling faster detection of link degradation, multipath I/O imbalances, and transient failures. Examine the technical challenges of transitioning from static in-memory trees built from sysfs to dynamic topology refresh mechanisms, including polling-based approaches and potential kernel-assisted notification systems using inotify, fanotify, or uevents. Participate in discussions about identifying the most useful real-time monitoring attributes such as ANA status, path state, queue depth, and error statistics, while exploring trade-offs between different implementation approaches. Review pre-built mockups of potential nvme-top dashboard designs and contribute to conversations about responsiveness, overhead, presentation options, and usability considerations for improving troubleshooting and operational visibility in fabric-based NVMe deployments.
