PMC, the semiconductor and software solutions innovator transforming networks that connect, move and store big data, today established a new ultra-fast storage class memory tier to accelerate critical applications in scale-out storage and all-flash arrays. The PMC Flashtec NVRAM Drives combine the speed and endurance of DRAM with the persistency of NAND flash to deliver ten times higher performance than the fastest Solid State Drive (SSD), at more than 10 million I/Os per second (IOPS), with sub-microsecond latency.

Leveraging PCI Express (PCIe) 3.0, the Flashtec NVRAM Drives connect directly to the host to optimize CPU utilization and maximize overall system performance. The latest member of PMC's enterprise-class Flashtec portfolio of controllers and drives, the new solutions are based on the industry-standard NVMe interface to enable plug-and-play PCIe connectivity, which decreases time to market in data center and enterprise storage deployments.

Marvell today announced the introduction of its first native Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) solid-state drive (SSD) controller, the 88SS1093. The Marvell 88SS1093 NVMe SSD controller delivers high-performance solid-state storage solutions with a fully Flash-optimized architecture overcoming the SAS/SATA performance limitations by optimizing hardware and software to take full advantage on NAND and addressing the needs of data centers and client systems that utilize next-generation PCIe 3.0 SSD storage. The 88SS1093 also integrates Marvell's third generation NANDEdge error-correcting, low-density parity check (LDPC) technology for higher reliability and endurance boost that was previously announced with Marvell's fifth generation SATA SSD controller, the 88SS1074.

"As the global leader of the storage industry, we are very proud of our innovation, invention, and contribution to the advancement of a wide range of storage technologies and products. I am very excited to see that our new SSD controller solution has once again raised the technology bar with superior performance, high reliability and robust security," said Weili Dai, President and Co-Founder of Marvell. "I am very proud of our close collaboration with leading tier one OEM and ODM partners around the world in enabling the rapid growth of the SSD market from client devices to data centers and enterprise systems. At Marvell, it is our pride and long term commitment to drive innovation to better lives for all in the new era of 'Smart Life and Smart Lifestyle'."

Enterprise storage leader HGST, a Western Digital company, today is previewing a new architecture for solid-state drives (SSDs) that enables applications to provide faster insights to the data-intensive questions of tomorrow. The demonstration shows unprecedented SSD performance levels that are achieved by utilizing a combination of HGST's new, latency-optimized interface protocols with next-generation non-volatile memory components.

The SSD demonstration utilizes a PCIe interface and delivers three million random read IOs per second of 512 bytes each when operating in a queued environment and a random read access latency of 1.5 microseconds (us) in non-queued settings, delivering results that cannot be achieved with existing SSD architectures and NAND Flash memories. This performance is orders of magnitude faster than existing Flash based SSDs, resulting in a new class of block storage devices.

HGST, a Western Digital company, today announced the launch of its new FlashMAX III family of PCIe accelerators, which deliver a dramatic improvement in price/performance for today's most demanding database and cloud workloads. Also introduced today is the new HGST ServerCache software that allows IT administrators to inject acceleration into their existing storage infrastructure by quickly and easily deploying a hybrid flash environment with any SSD.

"For businesses to remain competitive, application performance matters. Data needs to be instantly accessible for real-time processing, analytics and insights," said Ulrich Hansen, vice president of SSD product marketing, HGST. "To address this need, enterprise customers are actively looking to add flash into their storage infrastructure. Whether focused on peak application acceleration with an all-SSD environment, improving lagging performance by tiering or using caching to leverage combined HDD and flash environments, our new hardware and software solutions help strike that balance among performance, complexity and cost."

Lite-On SSD, a global leader in development and manufacturing of high-performance enterprise SSDs, will be attending the Flash Memory Summit, August 5-7, in Santa Clara, California. Lite-On will feature two new enterprise storage solutions - the M.2 PCIe P1P Series and N9S Series 2.5" SATA 6.0 Gb/s SSDs. Both units are designed to address high capacity and high performance needs of hyperscale computing, highly virtualized data centers, and high I/O server operations.

The P1P Series is a M.2 PCIe enterprise solution with capacities of 1 TB and power loss protection circuit all in a small form factor. This series is designed to offer the low latency through the PCIe bus. The small form factor and high capacity allow enterprise customers to pack more storage in a smaller footprint. The P1P Series can deliver sequential read/write speeds of up to 610 MB/s and 520 MB/s, while random read/write speeds can be achieved as high as 95K/15K IOPS.

OCZ Storage Solutions - a Toshiba Group Company and leading provider of high-performance solid-state drives (SSDs) for computing devices and systems, today announced the introduction and availability of its next generation SQL Server acceleration solution. The new ZD-XL SQL Accelerator 1.5 supports Microsoft SQL Server 2014, 2012 and 2008 R2 versions expanding on the key flash-based storage features that improve I/O access performance. OCZ presents the new SQL accelerator today through July 17th at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) 2014, Booth #2506A, Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Washington, DC.

ZD-XL SQL Accelerator 1.5 provides optimized and efficient flash acceleration for SQL Server through unique integration with the application and has been enriched over the previous ZD-XL 1.0 version to enable database administrators (DBAs) to unleash the full power of SQL Server 2014 features, such as flash Buffer Pool Extension (BPE) support, so that database pages can be accessed faster by loading them directly from flash.

With the proliferation and widespread adoption of 10GbE environments accelerating in response to the dropping prices of switches and compatible systems, Thecus Technology Corp. has taken bold steps in positioning itself as a leader in storage at this top-tier of network technology. Further bolstering its goal of 'empowering professionals' is the release of the C10GTR NIC, the follow-up to its successful C10GT card.

Powered by an advanced Tehuti TN4010 processor, the new 10Gb Ethernet PCI Express Adapter from Thecus is compatible with both x4 and x8-sized PCIe slots as well as 100M, 1G, and 10G networks. Software supported by the C10GTR includes Windows Storage Server 2012, WSS 2008 R2, Windows 8, Windows 7, Linux 2.6, Linux 3.x, VMWare 5.x, and Hyper-V. This low profile card is suitable for a wide range of products, including enterprise-targeted NAS from Thecus (such as the Top Tower, large business rackmount, and N7710/N8810U series, as well as the N7700 and N8800 PRO v2). Lastly, the C10GTR is also fully compliant with a wide range of protocols, including IEEE 802.3az, IEEE 802.3ad Link Aggregation, and IEEE 802.1q VLAN.

D-Link, the networking solutions provider for small business and medium enterprise IT environments, today announced a new 10 Gigabit Ethernet SFP+ Adapter (DXE-810S) designed for high-speed PCI Express bus architectures. Offering increased bandwidth, reliability and expanded functionality over standard PCI network cards, the new DXE-810S allows throughput at rates up to 20 Gbps, eliminating the bottlenecks that exist with current 32 and 64-bit PCI bus architectures.

"With the ever-increasing adoption of 10 Gigabit Ethernet in small and medium enterprise IT environments, the DXE-810S is ideal for enabling 1GbE to 10GbE migration in bandwidth-intensive workstation applications and for low-end to mid-range network appliances," said Steven Olen, director of product marketing, D-Link Systems, Inc. "With the DXE-810S, IT network administrators working with high-performance systems can eliminate bottlenecks and improve speed and reliability drastically."

PLX Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: PLXT), the global leader in PCI Express (PCIe) silicon and software connectivity solutions, today announced the industry's first USB-to-PCI Express solution to bridge the external connectivity gap laptop computers face when using PCIe-based solid-state drives (SSDs). The recently completed reference design platform, based on PLX PCIe 2.0-to-USB 3.0 SuperSpeed controller technology and housed in an external dongle enclosure, empowers laptop and storage vendors to leverage both USB 3.0's 5 gigabits/second (Gbps) speeds and PCIe 2.0's 5 Gbps performance. By combining two of the industry's most powerful and widely used interconnect technologies into a unified solution, end users don't face the connectivity limitations they've had to with their internal SSDs.

With this new platform, OEMs are able to create solutions that leverage laptops' USB 3.0 ports and connect effortlessly to PCIe-based, small-form-factor SSDs in external enclosures. Additionally, embedded system makers can design the PLX controller technology directly into systems in which PCIe isn't already native, creating direct PCIe-to-USB 3.0 connectivity to achieve a similarly powerful external-SSD connection.

Plextor, a leading developer of high-performance digital storage technology, announces the launch of M6 Pro and PlexTurbo at Computex 2014. The show will also mark the debut of other new consumer SSDs from Plextor, who will showcase their IPC and enterprise ranges. Debuting at Computex is the high-performance Plextor M6 Pro SATA SSD. With hardware operating at the maximum 6 Gbps throughput limit of the SATA interface, the M6 Pro sets new standards for reliability, stability, and performance. With guaranteed stability, the Plextor M6 Pro is the first consumer SSD from Plextor to pass its new ultra-strict enterprise-grade Zero Error standard of 400 units surviving 1008 hours (up from 500 hours). The introduction of DEVSLP mode reduces power consumption.

PlexTurbo is intelligent SSD caching software, which uses a combination of system RAM, the SSD DRAM cache, and SSD storage. It delivers additional storage speed for real-world applications, intelligently extends flash life, and prevents data loss if power is interrupted. By taking a more intelligent approach to RAM caching, the PlexTurbo is able to outperform competing software whist minimizing RAM use. PlexTurbo will initially only be available with the Plextor M6 Pro. Live demos will show the stability and incredible performance of Plextor's latest M6 generation of products. Attendees will experience the performance and advantages of the brand new Plextor M6 Pro with PlexTurbo. They will also have the chance to see the power of the M6e in HHHL and M.2 form factors. This SSD has already won numerous awards by bypassing the limitations of SATA to deliver highly stable RAID-like performance using cutting-edge components and the PCIe interface.

Plextor, a leading developer of high performance digital storage technology, launches the M6e M.2 PCIe Gen2 x2 SSD, an ultra-fast 2280 (80.0 mm × 22.0 mm), M.2 PCIe form factor SSD designed to deliver high performance storage to modern gaming notebooks and the new generation of M.2-compatible motherboards.

The M6e M.2 PCIe is the drive at the heart of Plextor's multi-award winning PCIe gaming SSD. With its release as a stand-alone product, consumers with M.2 PCIe slots gain access to an ultra-fast SSD with maximum sequential read speeds of 770 MB/sec and sequential write speeds of 625 MB/sec. Random 4k read speeds reach 105K, and random write speeds attain 100K, IOPS. The M6e range gives gamers RAID-like performance without the space requirements or inconvenience of setting up a RAID array.

Marvell today announced the launch of its new 88SS1083 PCI Express (PCIe) solid state drive (SSD) controller -a two-lane PCIe Gen2 SSD controller. With performance transfer rates up to 1 GB/s, Marvell's 88SS1083 controller allows SSD manufacturers to offer PCIe SSD at price parity to SATA SSD. The Marvell 88SS1083 is the industry's first controller to be fully compliant with the SATA Express standard, which leverages the most popular PCIe interface and brings in low latency, dual-lane support and 1 GB/s data transfer rate.

The new 88SS1083 controller also supports Separate RefClock with Independent SSC (SRIS), a critical feature as it eliminates the need for an expensive shielded cable for minimizing noise and instead allows for a cost-effective SATA Express cable. SATA Express host can connect either high-performance SATA Express SSDs or traditional SATA devices at similar accessory costs.

"Improving performance while maintaining low power becomes more important than ever, especially for today's ultrathin notebooks and tablets," said Rajan Pai, Vice President, Sales and Field Applications Engineering at Marvell. "The new 88SS1083 allows SSD OEMs to offer higher performance, PCIe-based SSD solutions at similar prices to SATA and is quickly becoming the controller of choice for global OEMs. Marvell is proudly pioneering a new generation of high-performance and low-power silicon solutions that is driving our industry forward."

OCZ Storage Solutions - a Toshiba Group Company and leading provider of high-performance solid state drives (SSDs) for computing devices and systems, today announced the RevoDrive 350 Series with workstation-grade design capabilities and maximum performance for professional content creation, multimedia, and extreme gaming applications. Achieving three times the performance of SATA-based SSD solutions, RevoDrive 350 is based on proven performance architecture and features 19 nm Toshiba NAND to complete OCZ's portfolio transition to in-house flash, offering a high-performance yet cost-efficient SSD solution for bandwidth-intensive client applications.

Using the PCI Express Gen. 2 x8 interface and up to four LSI SF-2282 processors to offer more available bandwidth than the previous generation, RevoDrive 350 features up to 1.8GB/s sequential speeds and up to 140,000 4K random write IOPS, delivering SSD RAID performance without the hassle in an easy-to-deploy, single card solution.

Intel's upcoming Thunderbolt host controller, codenamed "Alpine Ridge," could allow you to play God with several uncompressed Ultra HD video streams during production, if its leaked specifications hold up. The controller leverages PCI-Express gen 3.0 to double bandwidth of the interface. It will launch around the same time as Intel's next-generation Core "Skylake" processors (some time in 2015), and in a typical implementation, will be wired to the CPU's root-complex, and not that of the PCH. With PCIe 3.0 x4 or PCIe 3.0 x2 links at its disposal, the controller can push data at a staggering 40 Gbps. The link can also ferry DisplayPort, HDMI 2.0, and USB 3.0 data through its link layer. That bandwidth should enable you to plug in up to two Ultra HD displays, apart from your storage array.

The Thunderbolt connector itself will undergo a change with the arrival of Alpine Ridge. It will be slimmer (shorter) than the current connector, at 3 mm (good for Ultrabooks), and there will be adapters for backwards compatibility with older-generation Thunderbolt devices. The connector will be designed to supply up to 100W of power, so Ultrabooks based on it will do away with round DC jacks, and charge up much like tablets and smartphones do. That amount of power should also enable single-cable HDD docks and RAID boxes. There will be two main variants of Alpine Ridge, one that supports two ports over daisy-chaining, and one that supports just a single port.

Taiwanese PC audio hardware manufacturer Aim launched its flagship consumer sound card, the SC808. This full-height dual-slot (with daughterboard) sound card features PCI-Express x1 bus interface, and offers 7.1-channel analog and digital outputs. At its heart is C-Media's CMI8888, which is a native PCIe HDA controller, giving external DACs the task of handling analog outputs. The primary 2-channel headphones output is driven by a Wolfson WM8741 DAC, which offers a stellar SNR of 128 dBA. Other analog channels (center/sub, rear, sides), are handled by a C-Media CMI9882A CODEC, which offers a reasonable 100 dBA.

At the downstream of the WM8741 is the card's headphones amp circuit, featuring socketed Texas Instruments LM4562 OPAMP chips, metalized polypropylene capacitors, and a swappable pre-amp stage. The main PCB of the card holds a 6.3 mm stereo headphones jack, left and right RCA line-outs, 7.1-channel coaxial, and optical/TOSLINK SPDIF outputs. The other multi-channel analog outs are wired out by a header and ribbon cable to the daughterboard, which holds color-coded 3.5 mm jacks to all the channels. All audio portions of the card feature electrolytic capacitors (except the OPAMP stages, which feature MP caps), only the electrical/VRM portion of the card features conductive polymer (solid-state) capacitors. The card draws power from a 4-pin Molex power connector. On the software side of things, the driver provider is C-Media, with its reference Xear3D control panel. The card supports Windows 8. Slated for an April 24th launch in Japan, it's expected to be priced at 12,000¥ (US $112). Given its hardware, that's a reasonable price.

Plextor, a leading developer of high-performance digital storage technology, announces the worldwide availability of the M6e PCIe SSD, the first SSD specifically designed to meet the demanding requirements of the gaming community. The M6e will be available exclusively at NewEgg from April 7 through April 13.

The ultimate PC upgrade, the M6e delivers faster boot up speeds, shorter application load times, and improved system responsiveness for the ultimate performance. Power users can experience speeds up to 50% faster compared to regular SATA-based SSDs.

Plextor, leading developer and manufacturer of high-performance digital media and storage equipment, will reveal its new M6 Solid State Drive Solution at the upcoming 2014 edition of CeBIT in Hannover, Germany. The M6 multi-form factor lineup features Plextor's next-generation and new 2.5" M6S, the new M6M mSATA SSD and the new ultra-fast M6e M.2 PCIe SSD.

Building up to the official introduction of the highly anticipated M6 series Plextor will be continuously demonstrating the full lineup from March 10 - 14 in its showcases in the Business Center (Hall 15, Stand A18, Room 18) and at Planet Reseller (Hall 15, Stand D21, Number 66).

OCZ Storage Solutions - a Toshiba Group Company and leading provider of high-performance solid-state drives (SSDs) for computing devices and systems, today announced the introduction of the enterprise-class Z-Drive 4500 PCI Express (PCIe) SSD Series. The new Z-Drive 4500 Series delivers even higher performance in comparison to OCZ's Z-Drive R4 Series, leverages 19 nanometer (nm) MLC NAND flash, and features a more robust architectural design covering 800GB, 1.6TB and 3.2TB usable capacities.

Each model within the Z-Drive 4500 Series is integrated with OCZ's new Windows Accelerator (WXL) Software -- a flash management and caching solution for Microsoft Windows Server applications also announced by the Company today. WXL Software enables IT managers to deliver low-latency flash deployable as a local flash volume, a flash cache for HDD volumes or as a combination of both.

Gigabyte unveiled a pair of socket AM1 (FS1b) motherboards for AMD A-Series and E-Series "Kabini" APUs, and upcoming Athlon and Sempron-branded CPUs based on the same silicon. The lineup begins with the AM1M-S2H, which offers a basic mix of modern and legacy connectivity; including a combination of HDMI and D-Sub display outputs. The AM1M-S2P is based on a similar board design, but offers a lot more legacy connectivity options, including LPT and COM. Both boards offer a PCI-Express 2.0 x16, PCIe x1, and legacy PCI expansion slots, a pair of DDR3 DIMM slots, each; and are built in the narrow micro-ATX form-factor. Prices are expected to be around the $50 mark.

Super Talent Technology, a leading manufacturer of NAND Flash storage solutions, announces its RAIDDrive II Plus PCIe SSD!

Super Talent's RAIDDrive II Plus is the next generation of PCIe SSDs developed by Super Talent. It delivers top of the line read/write speeds of up to 2600/3200 MB/s with the PCIe Gen.2 x8 lane host interface and utilizes a 1 GB onboard DDR2 SDRAM cache with ECC protection. The RAIDDrive II Plus houses eight discrete SATA SSDs and comes in a custom form factor measuring 231.5 x 94.0 x 20.6 mm.

Here are the first pictures of a partner-branded GeForce GTX 750 graphics card taken apart. It reveals a couple of things - to begin with, the GM107 silicon will bring about some genuine performance per Watt improvements, despite being based on the existing 28 nm silicon fab process, and second, that cards based on the chip will be extremely cheap to build, giving NVIDIA a good chance to strengthen its position in the sub-$200 market segment. This particular card is cooled by a simple fan-heatsink that's essentially a chunk of metal with a fan latched on to it. The card relies on a simple 2+1 phase VRM, which draws power from a single 6-pin PCIe power connector. NVIDIA is expected to launch the GTX 750 and GTX 750 Ti a little later this month.

Other World Computing (OWC), a leading zero emissions Mac upgrade and storage technology company debuted the addition of the OWC Mercury Helios 2 PCIe Thunderbolt Expansion Chassis to its Helios line at CES 2014. The Helios 2 is a solution for using two single-width, or one single-width and one double-width, PCIe 2.0 adapter cards with Mac Pro (2013), Mac mini, iMac, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and other Thunderbolt-equipped computers that do not have PCIe slots due to size and/or design limitations.

More Users Can Now Tap Into Power of PCIe and Thunderbolt
Desktop workstations used to be the only way computer users could access high-performance PCIe cards made for video capture/editing, media transcoding, audio processing, and data storage. Now, with Mercury Helios or Helios 2, users of portable, all-in-one computers, and the new Thunderbolt 2 equipped Mac Pro 2013 can enjoy the functionality and productivity gains of these PCIe cards wherever their work takes them.

In addition to the HyperX Fury series, Kingston showed off one of the first client SSDs in the 2.5-inch SATA form-factor that's based on the new SandForce 3700 controller platform by LSI. The drive is unnamed as of now, but will feature in the company's SSDNow family of client SSDs. The controller features pins for both SATA 6 Gb/s and PCI-Express 2.0 x4. On drives built in the PCIe add-on card form-factor, the controller offers sequential transfer rates as high as 1,800 MB/s. SATA 6 Gb/s should certainly bottleneck it, but it could also be one of the fastest drives in its form-factor. The dual interface makes the controller ready for the SATA-Express form-factor, with backwards compatibility for SATA 6 Gb/s; as well as NGFF. Kingston didn't reveal launch details.

Plextor, a leading developer and manufacturer of high-performance digital media and storage equipment, today announced its M6 series lineup of solid-state drive solutions. The multi-form factor lineup features Plextor's next-generation 2.5" M6S and M6M mSATA SSDs, along with the introduction of two PCIe drives - the ultra-fast M6e M.2 PCI express and New HHHL PCIe card.

"We are excited to announce the new M6 series, Plextor's new generation of consumer solid-state storage products. With the addition of the M6e M.2 PCIe and SATA drives to the M6 family, Plextor now offers one of the broadest and highest-performing portfolios in the consumer space," said Darlo Perez, Director of Plextor Americas. "Plextor's latest lineup highlights our commitment to providing top-shelf quality and performance in the solid-state drive market."Images courtesy of Legit Reviews

Plextor, a leading developer of high-performance digital storage technology, announces the launch of the M6e, the first SSD specifically designed to meet the demanding requirements of the gaming community. The M6e PCIe SSD uses a new generation of high-bandwidth components to deliver smooth, uninterrupted gameplay and excels the player to get to the next level. It combines the convenience of driver-free ACHI support with the compatibility of selectable legacy BIOS or fast UEFI boot.

The Plextor M6e delivers maximum sequential read/write speeds of 770/625 MB/s and random read/write speeds of 105K/100K IOPS. The PCIe Gen2 x2 interface bypasses the SATAIII bottleneck, includes the latest server-grade multicore Marvell 88SS9183 controller with native PCI 2.0 support, and a pre-graded high performance Toshiba Toggle NAND flash.