HighPoint Technologies, a leader in advanced PCIe Switch and RAID AIC, Adapter and Storage Enclosure solutions, has announced an extensive line of M.2 and E1.S RAID AICs engineered to accommodate high-performance GPU-centric workloads. Designed for enterprise and datacenter class computing environments, HighPoint NVMe RAID AICs deliver class-leading performance and unmatched scalability, enabling modern x86/AMD and Arm platforms to support 4 to 16 NVMe SSDs via a single PCIe Gen 4 or Gen 5 x16 slot. State-of-the-art PCIe Switching Architecture and flexible RAID technology enable administrators to custom tailor M.2 and E1.S storage configurations for a broad range of data-intensive applications, and seamlessly scale or expand existing storage configurations to meet the needs of evolving workflows.

Unprecedented Storage Density
HighPoint NVMe AICs have established a new milestone for M.2 NVMe storage. HighPoint's revolutionary Dual-Width AIC architecture enables a single PCIe Gen 4 or Gen 5 x16 slot to directly host up to 16 M.2 NVMe SSDs, and 128 TB of storage capacity, at speeds up to 28 GB/s; a truly unprecedented advancement in compact, single-device storage expansion solutions. State-of-the art PCIe switching technology and advanced cooling systems maximize transfer throughput and ensure M.2 configurations operate at peak efficiency by halting the performance sapping threat of thermal throttling in its tracks.

HighPoint's RocketAIC 6542AWW has established a new milestone for turnkey NVMe Storage. Despite the external RAID solution's tidy dimensions (it stands only 4.84 inches tall, 8.27 inches deep, and 9.25 inches in length), it is equipped with eight of Solidigm's D5-P5336 NVMe SSDs, and provides an astonishing 491.52 TB of enterprise storage capable of delivering 28GBs of real-world transfer speed; ideal for Edge Applications that demand fast, high-density storage solutions with small hardware footprint.

The compact external storage chassis' integrated power supply and powerful cooling system enable the NVMe media to be completely isolated from the host hardware platform. Not only does this free up interior space for the host server or workstation, it can significantly improve reliability and efficiency by offsetting power consumption and ensuring that waste heat generated by the SSDs never enters the computing environment.

For enterprises in search of a high-performance, reliable, and cost-effective boot-drive solution, the HighPoint SSD6202A is the ideal choice. Engineered for enterprise computing environments, the robust, low-profile PCIe NVMe RAID AIC enhances the reliability and redundancy of the host platform by isolating the system's boot device from critical applications and primary data storage. The SSD6202A incorporates an impressive array of hardware and software features designed to maximize the performance, reliability and serviceability of NVMe storage media.

Native Hardware Support Streamlines Integration & Service Workflows
SSD6202A AICs are natively supported by all current Linux and Windows-based operating system and virtualization platforms, and require no additional device drivers or software applications to perform optimally. Hosted NVMe SSDs and RAID arrays will be automatically recognized as ordinary drives during OS installation, and can be formatted and partitioned as desired. The universal PCIe x8 host interface enables the SSD6202A to be seamlessly integrated into any PCIe Gen 3, 4 or 5 platform, and can deliver up to 7,000 MB/s of real-world transfer throughput using just a pair of off-the-shelf M.2 SSDs.

ORICO, a leading innovator in data storage solutions, is proud to introduce 5Big DAS Storage System Solution with 110 TB big capacity and 40 Gbps transfer speed storage system. Boost the unprecedented productivity of professionals, like video audio editors, content creators and filmmakers. Support personal or big team video audio projects that generate extensive data. As a video audio creator in pre-production and post-production, the volume of data can be overwhelming and scattered, from raw footage to final edits, sound files to special effects. And losing the valuable datasets means losing everything. Large, reliable and centralized storage ensures that all these assets are secured and easily accessible.

This system has 5 push-pull bays compatible with 2.5"/3.5" SSDs or 3.5" HDDs. Single bay supports up to 22 TB drive. Provide a total 110 TB lossless data backup and access area, specially tailored for high frame rate video projects and environments requiring high data completeness. It means you can get a storage space the same as: 55 x 2 TB laptop / 440 x 256 GB phone / 11,264 x 10 GB Blu-ray movie / 3,844,778 x 30 MB lossless music, or 23,068,672 x 5 MB HD photo. This system supports up to 3-devices daisy chain. You can get a total of 330 TB capacity available for the next project. On the other hand, it enables data recovery and 7 RAID modes (RAID 0, 1, 3, 5, 10, JOBD, Normal). Backup and redundancy measures ensure data security and reliability.

It's finally here! ASUSTOR NAS devices with AMD Ryzen CPUs have finally launched! With four to ten drive bays; the Lockerstor Gen3 series arrives with both flexibility and performance. The Lockerstor Gen3 series is designed for extreme performance while maintaining extreme efficiency. In a first for ASUSTOR, the Lockerstor Gen3 features a Quad-Core AMD Ryzen Embedded SoC that boosts to 3.8 GHz. Take advantage of four to ten drive bays, and four M.2 slots for NVMe SSDs that use PCIe 4.0, dual 10GbE, dual 5GbE, and dual USB4. 16 GB of ECC DDR5-4800 memory that's expandable to 64 GB. This combination of powerful hardware is not only faster, but sets the new performance standard.

The AMD Ryzen V3C14 SoC is built on a 6 nm process for maximum performance and efficiency. At a 25 W maximum TDP, it achieves energy savings even when crunching high-performance tasks. All Lockerstor Gen3 devices are equipped with dual 10GbE and dual 5GbE network ports, with single-port 10 GbE read/write speeds reaching up to 1176 MB/s and 1018 MB/s, while SMB multi-channel performance using RAID 5 can reach up to 2005 MB/s and 1090 MB/s respectively.

TerraMaster, a leading brand in home and enterprise storage solutions, has recently announced the launch of 9 new NAS models, all equipped with its latest TOS 6 operating system. This lineup includes two 8-bay all-flash NAS models specifically designed for high-performance needs. All new products were officially launched on September 19, 2024, on the TerraMaster official website and various global e-commerce platforms.

Comprehensive Range
The new TerraMaster product series covers a wide spectrum of users, from individual consumers and SMBs to high-end devices for business and enterprise sectors, fully addressing different needs.

Iodyne, a company dedicated to providing Pro users with the best technology, announced its Pro Mini external solid-state drive sporting unique features like the dual AirJet cooling system. This technology allows the drive to maintain sustained performance without the thermal throttling that plagues other portable SSDs. The Pro Mini can deliver speeds of 3 GB/s, up to two times the sustained throughput of standard professional SSDs, even with active encryption and internal RAID protection.

The drive features a triple-anodized machined aluminum chassis and hardened glass protection with a customizable 2.1" E-paper display. Offered with 4 TB or 8 TB capacities, the iodyne Pro Mini offers versatile connectivity, including a bus-powered USB-C port that automatically detects the connection type and adjusts its speed accordingly, supporting up to 40 Gb/s Thunderbolt connections. Security is another point where this product stands out with the use of Passkeys instead of passwords, along with enterprise-grade encryption and hardware-accelerated RAID-6 data protection. The Pro Mini also incorporates an integrated Bluetooth beacon for location tracking.

Durabook, the global rugged mobile solutions brand owned by Twinhead International Corporation, today announced significant updates to its S14I semi-rugged laptop, expanding its product line supporting modern-day data-intensive tasks. With the performance of Intel Core Ultra processor, this AI-powered 14" semi-rugged laptop exceeds expectations by delivering a powerful, premium performance and exceptional user experience.

Durabook also produces the Z14I fully rugged laptop, the world's most durable and reliable fully rugged PC designed specifically to support demanding AI applications in the field. Twinhead's CEO, Fred Kao, said: "AI technology has emerged as an important tool to handle and maximise data and create new, more capable and powerful systems. Durabook aims to equip our mobile computing devices with optimum capability for professional users in the field. Our customers can exploit these advancements to their advantage and greatest benefit with laptop solutions delivering up to 100 TOPS with AI accelerator."

HighPoint has unveiled the industry's first 16x M.2 Ports NVMe RAID AIC; the SSD7749M2. Featuring an unprecedented 16 independent M.2 device channels, and armed with HighPoint's proven PCIe Gen 4 Switch Architecture and NVMe cooling technology, SSD7749M2 RAID AICs are capable of delivering 28 GB/s of transfer throughput while supporting an astounding 128 TB of client-class NVMe storage; attributes that are particularly beneficial for AI driven workflows that require high-speed storage solutions capable of rapidly processing vast quantities of data. The compact, professional-grade PCIe AIC storage solution can be easily integrated into any x86 workstation or server platform capable of supporting modern dual-width GPUs, and is equipped with a comprehensive suite of management and monitoring tools designed to optimize and streamline the platforms NVMe storage ecosystem.

Advanced Architecture Maximizes Capacity and Performance
Innovative, dual-sided, vertically aligned M.2 loading trays can directly host up to sixteen 2280 form factor M.2 SSDs using only one side of the PCB. This unique architecture results in an impressively slim hardware footprint, with a form factor similar to that of a high-end dual-width GPU. The sixteen device channels can operate independently or concurrently, and enable the SSD7749M2 to support an astonishing 128 TB of M.2 storage, with the potential to scale up to 256 TB in the near future, all from a single PCIe slot!

What appears to be the full details of all of Intel's upcoming 800-series chipsets have leaked and although we've already seen what the Z890 chipset will offer, no details of the other SKUs have leaked to date. Maybe the biggest news is that there won't be an H870 chipset this time around, according to the leaker @jaykihn0 over at X/Twitter. The full range appears to be Z890, B860 and H810 for consumers, W880 for workstations and Q870 for corporate desktops. That said, the Z890 and W880 are identical in terms of slots and ports, but whereas the W880 gains full ECC support and Intel vPro and remote management, it loses the CPU and bus overclocking features of the Z890. The Q870 loses four chipset PCIe 4.0 lanes, one 20 Gbps or two 10 Gbps USB 3.2 ports, but is otherwise similar to the Z890, minus all the overclocking features, but with Intel vPro and remote management.

The B860 ends up on the chopping block as always and loses not only 10 chipset PCIe lanes compared to the Z890 chipset, but also four lanes from the CPU and four lanes on the DMI interface to the chipset. On top of that bifurcation goes out the window toigether with PCIe RAID and the chipset is only capable of having two 20 Gbps or four 10 Gbps USB 3.2 ports, but at least memory overclocking is still on the table. Finally, the H810 chipset is as basic as it gets, with no extra CPU PCIe lanes beyond the 16 lanes for a graphics card, but they are at least PCIe 5.0 this time around. The chipset itself is only equipped with a mere eight PCIe 4.0 lanes and it gets zero 20 Gbps and two 10 Gbps USB 3.2 ports. Note that all platforms support one or two Thunderbolt 4 / USB4 ports, but it's unclear if this is native support or via an add-on chip. Also note that the USB ports are shared and the maximum count is that for the 5 Gbps ports in the details below, so the Z890 for example, doesn't have 25 USB 3.2 ports in total, but rather only 10. All in all, we'll see a migration to PCIe 5.0 for the x16 slot across the entire 800-series chipset range and from the B860 and up, all chipsets will have a dedicated PCIe 5.0 x4 interface that will most likely be used for an M.2 slot. Also, the PCIe lane count is the maximum, but due to Intel's HSIO layout, some resources will be shared with SATA and Ethernet, which means not all PCIe lanes will be accessible.

Kioxia Corporation, a world leader in memory solutions, today announced that KIOXIA PCIe 5.0 NVMe SSDs have been successfully tested for compatibility and interoperability with the Xinnor, Ltd. ("Xinnor") RAID solution and achieved up to 25x higher performance running PostgreSQL than software RAID solutions with the same hardware configuration. This solution will be demonstrated in the KIOXIA booth at COMPUTEX TAIPEI, which is being held from June 4 to June 7. PostgreSQL (with the pgvector extension) and vector databases are becoming more important for generative AI and RAG (Retrieval Augmented Generation) systems than before, and these results demonstrate the performance gains utilizing Xinnor's xiRAID Opus and KIOXIA PCIe 5.0 NVMe SSDs solution for a generative AI and RAG application.

New servers with the PCIe 5.0 interface and corresponding high-speed SSDs are in demand for high performance applications, such as generative AI, and the importance of PCIe 5.0-compatible SSDs to support this demand is increasing. The Kioxia and Xinnor high performance software RAID solution maximizes the performance of PCIe 5.0 SSDs for AI, Machine Learning (ML), and data analytics applications in on-premises enterprise data centers. KIOXIA CM7 Series SSDs successfully completed compatibility testing performed by both parties.

TerraMaster, a professional brand focused on providing innovative storage products for homes and businesses, recently introduced the F2-424, a new upgrade of F2-423. The brand-new F2-424 adopts the Intel Celeron N95 4-core 4-thread processor, 8GB DDR5 memory, two 2.5GB network ports, two M.2 NVMe sockets, and adds a USB Type-C host interface and a USB Type A interface, achieving a 40% improvement in overall performance compared to the previous generation.

The F2-424 will come with the new generation TOS 5.1 operating system and can be smoothly upgraded to the TerraMaster TOS 6 operating system in the nearly future. With its robust features and state-of-the-art technology, the F2-424 NAS redefines data storage and management for both personal and business users.

Other World Computing, the leading provider of computer hardware, accessories, and software that bring artistic expression and the digital world together for creative professionals and consumers of technology, today unveiled SoftRAID 8, a groundbreaking new software release that redefines RAID management for Mac and Windows environments.

Quickly accessing data with the right safeguards is a difficult balance. Whether it is enhancing multimedia production workflows, protecting critical business files, or ensuring uninterrupted access to valuable data, OWC's SoftRAID is the ideal solution to manage RAID arrays. SoftRAID implements the latest performance technology unleashing remarkable speeds on a RAID system. Simply connect the drive array, format the preferred RAID level, and experience the breakneck speeds first-hand. RAID management has never been this powerful and easy to use.

QNAP Systems, Inc. today launched the new PCIe JBOD storage enclosures TL-Rx00PES-RP series, featuring PCIe Gen 3 x8, and providing up to 64 Gb/s data transfer speed. Users can expand existing NAS storage volumes to petabyte-class by connecting multiple TL-Rx00PES-RP series, without requiring RAID-rebuilding on the host NAS. The TL-Rx00PES-RP series supports SATA drives, allowing businesses to choose from a wide range of enterprise hard drives. This series is ideal for businesses who want to archive/back up virtualization applications, surveillance recordings, large data, and multimedia.

"Technological advancement usually comes at the cost of increased storage requirements. Organizations which handle particularly large data sets, such as research institutions and media production companies, require easy-to-scale solutions. QNAP presents the TL-Rx00PES-RP series as a petabyte-class storage solution for them. The TL-Rx00PES-RP series supports SATA drives, which are budget-friendly and available with large capacities," said Jerry Deng, Product Manager of QNAP.

Western Digital today introduces new solutions from its SanDisk brand and SanDisk Professional line ahead of IBC2023, further enriching its ecosystem of digital content storage solutions for the broadcasting, media and entertainment industry. These pro-grade products, which include two new desktop hard drive solutions and a memory card, offer the quality and dependability required for production-level video workflows without compromising the premium design.

"It is exciting to see Western Digital continue to expand its Thunderbolt offerings, which provide the higher-end capabilities and reliability that the media and entertainment industry needs," said Jason Ziller, General Manager, Client Connectivity Division, Intel Corporation. "By utilizing the power of our Thunderbolt technology, enterprise-class hard drives and multi-device connectivity solutions support prosumers and creative professionals, and their increasingly complex demands and innovative use cases."

TerraMaster, a professional brand that focuses on providing innovative storage products for homes and businesses, recently released new design NAS series F2-212, F4-212 and U4-212, support TRAID, BTRFS file system, Snapshot and TFSS providing stronger data backup and better home multimedia experience, which perfectly meet the requirement of personal and home users. Among the 3 models, the sample of F2-212 for review will be firstly available soon in August.

More Modern Exterior Design
The 212 NAS series adopts brand-new design elements and color matching, and has a more fashionable and modern appearance design, better heat dissipation, lower noise, and more convenient installation and use.

Synology today announced the DiskStation DS224+ and DS124, the two newest additions to Synology's range of data solutions for professionals, small teams, and edge deployments. Powered by the versatile Synology DiskStation Manager (DSM) operating system, these storage devices offer comprehensive tools to protect and manage important data, access files remotely, and monitor physical properties, all within a compact desktop format.

The DS224+ and DS124 deliver intuitive file management and sharing with Synology Drive, a private cloud solution combining cross-platform access with advanced privacy controls. Professionals in all fields can be more productive with the convenience of working from anywhere and the simplicity of centralized data.

QNAP Systems, Inc. (QNAP) today officially released QuTS hero h5.1.0, the latest version of QNAP's ZFS-based NAS operating system. New features and updates within this version reinforce QuTS hero NAS with higher system performance and improved capabilities for big data storage and data security - providing robust and reliable storage solutions for critical business workloads that demand data integrity.

"The ZFS-based QuTS hero NAS is engineered with advanced technologies for optimizing business storage, including self-healing, inline data reduction, SSD optimization, and Real-time SnapSync that enables zero RPO," said Sam Lin, Product Manager of QNAP, adding "With these continual improvements and innovations, QuTS hero NAS solutions empower businesses with strengthened IT efficiency and system reliability."

The Sabrent Quad NVMe SSD to PCIe 4.0 x16 Card (EC-P4BF) is the perfect complement for a desktop that requires additional high-performance storage. Add one, two, three, or four NVMe SSDs with a single, physical x16 PCIe slot adapter. A bifurcation setting in the BIOS is required. Only M.2 M key SSDs are supported, but older and newer generation SSDs in the 2230/2242/2260/2280 form factors will work at up to PCIe 4.0 speeds. The adapter is also backward compatible with PCIe 3.0/2.0 slots. Drives can be accessed individually or placed into a RAID via Intel VROC, AMD Ryzen NVMe RAID, UEFI RAID, or software-based RAID through Windows Storage Spaces when respective criteria are met.

High-performance drives and systems may require high-end cooling, and this adapter has you covered. It's constructed out of aluminium material for physical stability and improved heat dissipation. It also includes thermal padding for all four SSDs to keep things cool and in place. Active cooling for high-performance environments is optional with a switchable fan. The adapter is plug-and-play with driverless operation. Rear-mounted LEDs quickly show the drive status for a quick visual update. The host must support PCIe bifurcation (lane splitting) to access more than one drive, so be sure to check your motherboard's manual ahead of time.

Giga Computing, a subsidiary of GIGABYTE and an industry leader in high-performance servers, server motherboards, and workstations, today announced continued collaboration with GRAID Technology, and the creation of GIGABYTE R Series servers to overcome NVMe bottlenecks in storage applications. Online shopping, financial trading, editing high-resolution images, and AI-generated content have all become parts of everyday life. Enterprise companies are now developing better server solutions with faster compute speeds, greater energy efficiency, and more secure data protection. Giga Computing focuses on the design of computing hardware for GIGABYTE servers and works with GRAID Technology to develop integration solutions that disrupt the storage market. Together they have created next-generation servers and NVMe controllers that will become the new standards for RAID across NVMe SSDs.

Traditional RAID technologies have become a bottleneck for NVMe SSD performance, so GRAID developed the SupremeRAID high-speed RAID card which Giga Computing used to develop a comprehensive solution. The GIGABYTE R283-S92 server became the first server to support the SupremeRAID SR-1010 RAID card. In addition, all future GIGABYTE R283 and R183 servers will incorporate this optimization and become servers with the highest compatibility for GRAID's next-generation technologies. After installing SupremeRAID SR-1010, the user simply installs the corresponding driver and software on the operating system to activate the virtual controllers on the NVMe SSD, process storage and computing functions, and satisfy the ultra-high-performance requirements for all types of workloads.

AAEON, a leading manufacturer of industrial-grade server solutions, has announced the release of the ZEUS-WHI0 4U Rackmount Whitely Platform Server System. The ZEUS-WHI0 is AAEON's first system-level solution to utilize a 3rd Generation Intel Xeon Scalable Processor (formerly Ice Lake-SP). With up to 40 cores and 80 threads, this platform provides server-grade power while also benefitting from peripheral technologies such as Intel Crypto Acceleration, Intel VT-x, and Intel AES-NI.

Equipped with seven PCIe slots with up to Gen 4 speed capability, the ZEUS-WHI0 is exceptionally expandable, making it capable of supporting up to four GPU cards for AI acceleration and enhanced graphics realization. Further to this, the ZEUS-WHI0 also supports eight 2.5" or 3.5" HDD via two 4-bay inputs for storage, alongside an additional M.2 2280 M-Key for PCIe [x4].

Getac has today announced the expansion of its flagship X600 rugged mobile workstation range with the launch of the X600 Server and X600 Pro-PCI. The new models will sit alongside the recently launched X600 and X600 Pro, creating a comprehensive lineup of rugged mobile workstations that are purpose-built to meet the demands of professionals working in challenging industries, such as defence, manufacturing and oil & gas.

X600 Server: The fully rugged mobile server
The all-new Getac X600 Server delivers a powerful commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) rugged mobile server that can be folded to a slim profile for easy transportation.

Exascend, Inc., a leader in industrial-grade, enterprise-class and cinematography flash storage solutions, announces new ultra-high-capacity industrial- and enterprise-grade PCIe NVMe U.2 SSDs in 16 TB, or 15,360 GB capacity.

Performance and capacity that power cloud and edge servers
U.2 SSDs have some characteristics that give them an edge over M.2 SSDs, such as better thermal performance, high IOPs, low latency, low power consumption, and the ability to come out with higher capacities due to their 2.5-inch form factor - making U.2 ideal for enterprise data centers switching from traditional HDDs to high-performing SSDs.

QNAP Systems, Inc., a leading computing, networking, and storage solution innovator, today introduced the high-capacity TS-1655 tower 2.5 GbE NAS that can accommodate twelve 3.5-inch hard drives and four 2.5-inch solid-state drives. Designed with a hybrid storage architecture that balances performance and cost, the TS-1655 integrates 8-core computing power, 2.5 GbE high speed and PCIe expansion to improve business efficiency for cross-team file sharing, collaboration, backup and disaster recovery, and virtualization.

"The TS-1655 strikes a cost-performance balance with the HDD/SSD hybrid storage design, while also supporting RAID 50/60 that provides high-capacity NAS users with higher data protection and optimum storage space utilization," said Andy Chuang, Product Manager of QNAP, adding "Moreover, its SSD-focused design includes built-in M.2 NVMe PCIe slots and dedicated 2.5-inch SSD bays to drive performance-demanding business applications while enabling tiered storage for maximized cost-efficiency."

Intel's Xeon processors feature a wide range of embedded functionalities that the company has developed over the years. One such is the Virtual RAID on CPU (VROC) that enabled the functionality of an NVMe RAID card on the CPU, simplifying the installation, cost, and maintenance of high-performance storage arrays. Debuting in 2017, it is present in some consumer-facing Core models and Xeon Scalable platforms where it sees the highest usage. However, on January 6, Intel posted a product change notice that notified the users that the VROC function would be discontinued, with the last orders being placed on January 23 and the last shipping with VROC being made on March 31. This caused confusion, especially in the enterprise sector, which utilizes Intel Xeon processors for their workloads and storage arrays.

Tom's Hardware has reached out to Intel for clarification and got the following statement:

Intel SpokespersonThe PCN [Product Change Notice] was prematurely posted while the decision was under evaluation. After discussing with the ecosystem and customers we realize there is significant demand for this product and intend to continue to support it.