A method for handling namespace reservations in a Non Volatile Memory express (NVMe) controller includes a NVMe hardware module collecting a data access request from a host device, the NVMe hardware module determining a validity of the collected data access request, wherein the validity of the data access request is determined based a reservation specific to the host and data indicated in the data access request, and the NVMe hardware module notifying the NVMe firmware module of the determined validity of the collected data access request. The method further includes a NVMe firmware module accepting the data access request when the data request is notified by the NVMe hardware module as being valid, and the NVMe firmware module rejecting the data access request when the data request is notified by the NVMe hardware module as being invalid.