Up until very recently, the microSD Express format was viewed as a commercial disappointment for involved manufacturers and suppliers. Potential buyers were not attracted to premium price points; as demanded by designs that can leverage (up to) 900 MB/s read speeds. Hermitage Akihabara—a Japanese electronics and computer hardware chain—has tracked an alarmingly sharp climb in demand for microSD Express products. The popular retailer documented this recent trend across several articles, with last week's investigation diving deep into units selling: "at a rate of 337.62 cards per hour!" The upcoming launch of a highly-anticipated mainstream gaming device has seemingly sharply driven up sales of a largely forgotten storage format. Hermitage Akihabara explored this unprecedented turnaround in fortunes: "Nintendo's influence is amazing. The 'microSD Express card,' which had hardly any sales due to lack of use, sold out in an instant as soon as it was announced that it would be used in the Nintendo Switch 2. It was sold out not only in (our) Akihabara shops but also on EC sites nationwide, and it caused such a stir that it was even covered in the general news."

Hermitage Akihabara expects to replenish its stock within a non-specific timeframe—but prices could remain "quite high," due to manufacturers (reportedly) being fairly conservative with production output. The store's "behind the scenes of the microSD Express card sellout" news piece outlined some compelling data points: "our mail order service received a large number of orders. According to the calculations made by the mail order staff, they were selling at a rate of 5.63 units per minute, or 337.62 units per hour, which was also a surprise. Of course, we didn't have that much stock, but it seems that we were selling as much as we had. One interesting thing is that most of the buyers ordered only one copy. At most, three copies were purchased, and more than 80% of people ordered one copy. Most of the buyers were pure users who wanted to save one to use with the Switch 2." As reported earlier in the month, Lexar has readied the world's first 1 TB microSD Express card. Their $199.99 (MSRP) 1 TB PLAY PRO microSDXC Express model is already available to purchase, months in advance of Switch 2's global launch date (June 5). Industry insiders believe that Samsung is collaborating with Nintendo on an "official" range of microSD Express cards.

Infortrend Technology, Inc., the industry-leading enterprise storage provider, today announced the launch of the groundbreaking EonStor GSx parallel file storage family. Designed to provide high-performance parallel file access and exceptional scalability, EonStor GSx is ideal for demanding AI and HPC applications where rapid access to data is crucial.

EonStor GSx is a high-performance storage solution facilitating parallel file access in IT environments that require processing sheer volumes of data. A single GSx appliance delivers up to 43 GB/s, while a cluster of 10 GSx units achieves nearly 10 times that performance, effectively eliminating the bottlenecks encountered with a single storage appliance. In a conventional parallel file system architecture, which usually includes dedicated metadata servers and multiple I/O nodes, rack space demand in the data center can be substantial. EonStor GSx provides a solution that eliminates the need for this additional hardware, effectively addressing space limitations for enterprises.

Professional storage brand TerraMaster proudly unveils its revolutionary product, the D9-320, a 9-bay intelligent storage enclosure. As a flagship model featuring an innovative "independent drive power control system," the D9-320 offers a massive 198 TB storage capacity, 10 Gbps high-speed transmission, and precise nine-channel power management, providing professional-grade storage expansion solutions for small and medium-sized businesses, NAS users, and tech enthusiasts.

Three Major Breakthroughs Set a New Industry Benchmark
9-Channel Independent Power Management

• The D9-320 introduces an innovative design with nine physical power switches plus a master control switch for dual protection. Users can precisely shut down idle drives, reducing power consumption by up to 70%. Paired with a UPS intelligent power-off protection system, it automatically performs head parking and data cache protection during unexpected power outages, improving data safety by 300% compared to traditional enclosures.

From April 6-9th, UGREEN, a global leader in consumer electronics and charging technology, is showcasing its innovative NASync series at the NAB Show in Las Vegas. The UGREEN NASync iDX6011 and iDX6011 Pro have been the highlights of the display at Booth SL9210 in the Las Vegas Convention Center. These latest UGREEN NASync iDX models revolutionize data management and security for content creators through advanced AI technology, setting a new standard as the world-first AI-powered NAS.

UGREEN NASync is a series of network-attached storage devices tailored for personal, home, or business use. In March 2024, UGREEN launched a 44-day crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter for the NASync DXP series, successfully raising over $6.6 million achieved No.1 in the NAS category. This remarkable support highlights the strong demand for advanced storage solutions.

MangoBoost, a provider of cutting-edge system solutions designed to maximize AI data center efficiency, has set a new industry benchmark with its latest MLPerf Inference v5.0 submission. The company's Mango LLMBoost AI Enterprise MLOps software has demonstrated unparalleled performance on AMD Instinct MI300X GPUs, delivering the highest-ever recorded results for Llama2-70B in the offline inference category. This milestone marks the first-ever multi-node MLPerf inference result on AMD Instinct MI300X GPUs. By harnessing the power of 32 MI300X GPUs across four server nodes, Mango LLMBoost has surpassed all previous MLPerf inference results, including those from competitors using NVIDIA H100 GPUs.

Unmatched Performance and Cost Efficiency
MangoBoost's MLPerf submission demonstrates a 24% performance advantage over the best-published MLPerf result from Juniper Networks utilizing 32 NVIDIA H100 GPUs. Mango LLMBoost achieved 103,182 tokens per second (TPS) in the offline scenario and 93,039 TPS in the server scenario on AMD MI300X GPUs, outperforming the previous best result of 82,749 TPS on NVIDIA H100 GPUs. In addition to superior performance, Mango LLMBoost + MI300X offers significant cost advantages. With AMD MI300X GPUs priced between $15,000 and $17,000—compared to the $32,000-$40,000 cost of NVIDIA H100 GPUs (source: Tom's Hardware—H100 vs. MI300X Pricing)—Mango LLMBoost delivers up to 62% cost savings while maintaining industry-leading inference throughput.

Other World Computing (OWC), !a trusted leader in high-performance storage, docks, and memory card solutions that empower professionals in video and audio production, photography, and business with the tools to seamlessly maximize the performance and reliability of their workflows, today announced the general availability (GA) launch of the OWC Jellyfish B24 and OWC Jellyfish S24, two powerful new additions to its award-winning shared storage lineup. Designed to meet the evolving needs of media teams, the OWC Jellyfish B24 delivers a cost-effective, high-capacity solution for seamless collaboration and nearline backup, while the OWC Jellyfish S24 offers a full SSD production server with lightning-fast performance for demanding video workflows. With scalable expansion options and rock-solid reliability, these new OWC Jellyfish solutions give video editors, post-production teams, and content creators the tools they need to work faster, collaborate more easily, and keep their projects moving - without storage ever slowing them down.

Video editors, post-production teams, and content creators are constantly juggling massive file sizes, complex collaborations, and the need for seamless access to their media - all while making sure their work is safely backed up. But as video resolutions continue to climb to 4K, 8K, and beyond, many storage solutions just can't keep up, creating frustrating bottlenecks that slow down the creative process. The OWC Jellyfish B24 and S24 are built to solve these problems, delivering high-performance, scalable shared storage that keeps workflows smooth, file transfers fast, and backups reliable. Whether a team needs affordable nearline storage - with plenty of capacity, or lightning-fast SSDs - for real-time editing, these solutions ensure creatives can focus on what they do best - telling great stories - without storage getting in the way.

MagStor, an industry leader in advanced data storage solutions, proudly announces the launch of the world's first Thunderbolt 5 LTO drive, marking a monumental step forward in data storage technology. This groundbreaking innovation continues MagStor's tradition of trailblazing advancements, following its historic introduction of the patented world's first Thunderbolt 3 LTO drive. Designed with cutting-edge Thunderbolt 5 technology, the new LTO drive offers unprecedented speed, reliability, and compatibility for professional data backup and archival needs.

"At MagStor, we are committed to pushing the boundaries of what's possible in data storage," said Tim Gerhard, VP of Product at MagStor. "After revolutionizing the market with the first-ever Thunderbolt 3 LTO drive, we're excited to raise the bar again with Thunderbolt 5, ensuring our customers have access to the most powerful and flexible storage solutions available."

In industrial environments, equipment runs 24/7, handling frequent and intensive write operations. To support these demanding workloads, storage solutions must offer high endurance to extend lifespan, minimize downtime, and lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO). Designed to meet these demands, the Cervoz T455 Series, M.2 2280 NVMe SSD delivers 35% greater endurance through a refined firmware architecture and proven storage technologies. Ideal for industrial automation, edge computing, and high-performance computing (HPC), it ensures reliable performance under heavy workloads.

Enhanced Endurance for Demanding Industrial Applications—Over-Provisioning Technology: Endurance SSD Performance and Longevity
Cervoz's Over-Provisioning technology optimizes SSD performance by reserving extra storage space, boosting efficiency, and extending lifespan. How SSD Over-Provisioning Delivers Benefits:

• Extended Lifespan: Efficiently reserves additional storage space, enhancing NAND durability at least 35%.
• Consistent Performance: Maintains steady performance levels even under high-intensity workloads.
• Optimized Resource Management: Reserved space allocation for optimal write efficiency.

Accordance Systems Inc., a leading global provider of RAID box, unveiled its latest innovation, the ARAID M6 series RAID Box for PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2, at Embedded World 2025 in Nuremberg, Germany, from March 11-13. Accordance has been delivering easy, user-friendly RAID solutions worldwide for over a quarter of a century, providing businesses worldwide with instantaneous backup for their OS and data. The new M6 series aims to provide reliable, high-speed backup for edge computing and edge AI applications across industries.

High-Speed Data Backup and Storage for PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 Drives
Making its debut at Embedded World was Accordance's M6 series RAID box. This latest addition to the company's long-running ARAID product line supports multiple drive interfaces, including 2.5" SATA, SAS, U.2, U.3 and NVMe M.2 (PCIe Gen 4x4). The ARAID RAID box automatically backs up a PC's system and data into a second drive, ensuring critical systems keep running in the event of boot drive failure, OS corruption or ransomware attacks. The new M6 series is designed to support the high data speeds needed in AI applications growing more common across industries, such as finance, agriculture, transportation, and manufacturing. Keeping with the original vision for ARAID—a RAID box as easy to use as a point-and-shoot camera—the M6 series requires no IT knowledge to use, enabling all users to quickly upgrade their systems with RAID 1.

SMART Modular Technologies, Inc. ("SMART"), a Penguin Solutions, Inc. brand and a global leader in integrated memory solutions, solid-state drives, and hybrid storage products, announced today it is now sampling its redefined Non-Volatile CXL Memory Module (NV-CMM) to tier 1 OEMs based on the CXL 2.0 standard. This innovative product combines non-volatile high-performance DRAM memory, persistent flash memory and an energy source in a single removable EDSFF form factor to deliver superior reliability and serviceability for data-intensive applications. The NV-CMM module further expands the SMART family of CXL products introduced in the last year.

"Our NV-CMM represents a paradigm shift in memory technology for data centers," said Torry Steed, senior product marketing manager at SMART Modular Technologies. "By combining the benefits of non-volatile memory with the CXL standard, we're making it significantly easier for system integrators to incorporate compact, non-volatile, high performance persistent memory into their products."

Welinq, a leader in quantum networking technology, has launched the first commercial quantum memory designed specifically for quantum data centers with world-record performance. Quantum computing is reaching a turning point: with more than 100 individual quantum computers deployed in dedicated infrastructures, the next challenge is networking them into scalable, high-performance architectures.

Just as classical data centers rely on distributed computing and high-speed interconnects, the future of quantum computing depends on optical networking and resource sharing between quantum processors. Welinq's quantum memory acts as the backbone of this infrastructure, making it possible to link quantum processors into powerful, scalable networks.

Seagate is advancing in NVMe technology for large-capacity hard drives as the growing storage needs in AI systems and apps continue to rise. Old and current storage setups struggle to handle the huge datasets needed for machine learning, which now reach petabyte and even exabyte sizes. Today's storage options have many drawbacks for AI tasks. SSD-based systems offer the needed speed however it is not cost-effective for storing large AI training data. SAS/SATA hard drives are cheaper however, the interfaces rely on proprietary silicon, host bus adapters (HBAs), and controller architectures that struggle with the high-throughput, low-latency needs of AI's high data flow.

Seagate's "new idea" is to use NVMe technology in large-capacity hard drives. This creates a solution that keeps hard drives cost-effective and dense while boosting performance for AI apps. NVMe hard drives will not need HBAs, protocol bridges, and additional SAS infrastructure, allowing seamless scalability by integrating high-density hard drive storage with high-speed SSD caching in a unified NVMe architecture.

TerraMaster, a trusted leader in innovative storage solutions, proudly introduces the D4-320U, a compact 1U 4-bay direct-attached storage (DAS) enclosure
designed for small offices, home users, and IT environments. Combining a space-saving rackmount design, massive 88 TB storage capacity, and lightning-fast 10 Gbps USB 3.2 Gen 2 performance, the D4-320U delivers unmatched versatility and efficiency for modern data demands.

D4-320U Key Features
Compact Design for Seamless Deployment
The D4-320U redefines convenience with its miniaturized 1U rackmount form factor. Measuring just 241 mm (9.49 inches) in depth, 50% shorter than traditional chassis and weighing 3.2 kg, this sleek enclosure fits effortlessly into standard server racks without the need for rails, simplifying installation. Its space-efficient design maximizes room utilization in data centers, storage closets, stairwells, or offices, making it an ideal choice for small businesses and SOHO users seeking centralized storage solutions.

Supermicro, Inc., a Total IT Solution Provider for AI, Cloud, Storage, and 5G/Edge, announced a new optimized storage server for high-performance software-defined storage workloads. This first-of-its-class storage server from a major Tier 1 provider utilizes Supermicro's system design expertise to create a high-density storage server for software-defined workloads found in AI and ML training and inferencing, analytics and enterprise storage workloads. Supermicro worked closely with NVIDIA and WEKA to enable customers to create power-efficient high-performance storage systems for their AI factories.

"The Supermicro Petascale server with the NVIDIA Grace CPU Superchip highlights Supermicro's focus on innovation and customer choice," said Charles Liang, president and CEO of Supermicro. "We have developed the Petascale storage server using the NVIDIA Grace CPU with 144 Arm Neoverse V2 cores enabling high-performance I/O for software-defined storage workloads. We have demonstrated that the system can fully unleash the system's PCIe Gen 5 performance SSD bandwidth with linear scalability. Supermicro continues to bring to market the most advanced and optimized storage solutions available."

Silicon Motion Technology Corporation ("Silicon Motion"), a global leader in designing and marketing NAND flash controllers for solid-state storage devices, today announced the sampling of its groundbreaking MonTitan SSD Reference Design Kit (RDK) that supports up to 128 TB with QLC NAND. Designed on the advanced MonTitan PCIe Gen 5 SSD Development Platform. This new offering aims to accelerate enterprise and data center storage AI SSD solutions by providing a robust and efficient RDK for OEMs and partners.

The SSD RDK incorporates Silicon Motion's PCIe Dual Ported enterprise-grade SM8366 controller, which supports PCIe Gen 5 x4 NVMe 2.0 and OCP 2.5 data center specifications offering unmatched performance, QoS, and capacity for next-generation large data lake storage needs.

Supermicro, Inc. a Total IT Solution Provider for AI/ML, HPC, Cloud, Storage, and 5G/Edge, is introducing a wide range of new systems which are fully optimized for edge and embedded workloads. Several of these new compact servers, which are based on the latest Intel Xeon 6 SoC processor family (formerly codenamed Granite Rapids-D), empower businesses to optimize real-time AI inferencing and enable smarter applications across many key industries.

"As the demand for Edge AI solutions grows, businesses need highly reliable, compact systems that can process data at the edge in real-time," said Charles Liang, president and CEO of Supermicro. "At Supermicro, we design and deploy the industry's broadest range of application optimized systems from the data center to the far edge. Our latest generation of edge servers deliver advanced AI capabilities for enhanced efficiency and decision-making close to where the data is generated. With up to 2.5 times core count increase at the edge with improved performance per watt and per core, these new Supermicro compact systems are fully optimized for workloads such as Edge AI, telecom, networking, and CDN."

Kingston has introduced its new DC3000ME line of enterprise-grade PCIe 5.0 SSDs. These top-tier storage devices come in a U.2 15 mm form factor (100.50 mm × 69.8 mm × 14.8 mm) and use 3D eTLC NAND flash memory. The drives include built-in power loss protection and AES 256-bit hardware-based encryption. Kingston DC3000ME SSDs are designed for server applications such as AI, HPC, OLTP, databases, cloud infrastructure, and edge computing. As an enterprise-grade product, the DC3000ME SSDs also feature various built-in telemetry such as media wear, temperature, health, etc.

At this moment, they are offered in three sizes: 3.84 TB, 7.68 TB, and 15.36 TB. Each version has 1DWPD durability with a 5-year warranty. In terms of power consumption, we have 8 W when idle and up to 24 W during writing operations. Kingston points out the drives' steady I/O performance and quick response times, with read delays under 10µs at 99% and write delays under 70µs. (up to 14,000/10,000 MB/s sequential read/write and up to 2,800,000/500,000 4k random read/write IOPS). The drives also have NVMe-MI 1.2b remote management, end-to-end data safety, and support for TCG Opal 2.0. Exact pricing is still to be announced, however we found them online at €686,9 (3.84 TB), €1226,9 (7.68 TB), €2252,9 (15.36 TB).

Technology advancements in AI, video, analytics, VR, photography, and media and entertainment (M&E) have rapidly increased the demand for more data storage. Every stage of professional workflows—production, analysis, editing, collaboration and archiving—demands more capacity, performance and flexibility. In response, Western Digital (Nasdaq: WDC) is unveiling several new product enhancements built to meet the growing need for higher capacity storage solutions for today's data-driven demands.

HDD Capacity and Performance for Creative Workflows
Western Digital has unveiled higher capacities across its Professional product suite. Solutions feature enterprise-class Ultrastar 7200 RPM HDDs for high performance, reliability and fast read/write speeds.

Infortrend Technology, Inc., the industry-leading enterprise storage provider, today announced the launch of its first NVMe all-flash expansion enclosure, or JBOF ("Just a Bunch of Flash") - the JB 4000U model. This new product provides an excellent storage expansion option for applications such as AI, Media & Entertainment (M&E), and Backup, where fast data access and large capacity are crucial.

Designed as a scalability solution for high-performance EonStor GS U.2 NVMe unified storage systems, the JB 4000U all-flash expansion enclosure features a 2U form factor, supporting up to 24 U.2 NVMe SSDs in a single appliance. In a dual-controller configuration, it delivers an impressive throughput of up to 24 GB/s, approximately 50% higher than that of the Infortrend's highest-performance SAS SSD expansion enclosure. JBOF offers superior performance at a lower cost compared to expansion enclosures supporting SAS SSDs, as U.2 NVMe SSDs are generally more affordable. Users can expand storage capacity with the JB 4000U, offering up to 1.47PB in a single unit. Adding up to three JBOFs can further increase the capacity to 4.4PB.

Silicon Motion Technology Corporation, a global leader in NAND flash controllers for solid-state storage devices, today announced its participation in Embedded World 2025, taking place from March 11-13, 2025, in Nuremberg, Germany.

At the event, Silicon Motion will showcase its latest storage and display interface solutions, including PCIe NVMe Gen 4/5 SSD controllers, Ferri embedded storage solutions, and advanced display interface SoCs. These cutting-edge innovations are designed to maximize performance per watt, extend device longevity and power for the next generation of AI-driven industrial, embedded, automotive, and data center applications.

On March 3, Longsys, a branded semiconductor memory enterprise, made its first-ever appearance at MWC 2025 in Barcelona. Under the theme "New Mode of Storage Empowering Global Mobility", it showcased a series of innovative storage products, attracting widespread attention.

PTM Business Model: Full-Stack Customization Service
The Product Technology Manufacturing (PTM) model was a major highlight, showcasing Longsys' full-stack customization capabilities—from in-house controller development and product design to rigorous testing and intelligent manufacturing.

AOOSTAR announced that the WTR MAX NAS will soon hit the market, after almost a year of development. The WTR MAX is equipped with the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8845HS processor, which outperforms consumer grade 8845HS series, a good choice from AOOSTAR. Another interesting feature is the ECC (Error Correcting Code) memory support. However, there's another feature that stands out as well. Users can install no less than 11 drives in the WTR MAX NAS: five SSDs (three PCIe 4.0 X2.0 and two PCIe 4.0 X1.0) and six HDDs, making it ideal for those needing large storage capacity. AOOSTAR included Oculink and USB4 ports too, so you can plug in an external GPU or more storage options.

Specifications are complemented by two 10G Ethernet ports and two 2.5G Ethernet ports. On the front, you'll find USB4, Type-C, and SD card slots. The NAS comes with its own screen to keep an eye on the system in real time. You can check things like how hot the CPU is, how the memory's doing, and how well the drives are working. Also, you can pick from different themes for the display - default, cartoon style, and cyberpunk (they're planning to add more themes and options in the future). AOOSTAR is going to start selling the WTR MAX NAS at the end of March for just $699.

Advantech, a global leader in industrial flash storage solutions, introduces the SQFlash EDSFF and EU-2 PCIe Gen 5 x4 SSDs, designed to meet the demands of next-generation enterprise and data center applications. Till 2024, PCIe Gen 4 solutions accounted for 50% of the market, and PCIe Gen 5 products are rapidly gaining traction across diverse applications. Among PCIe storage products, form factors such as U.2, E3.S, and E1.S are driving market growth.

The SQFlash E1.S SSD, built on the EDSFF standard, delivers exceptional performance with PCIe Gen 5 read and write speeds of up to 14,000 MB/s and 8,500 MB/s, respectively, while offering scalability, power efficiency, and thermal optimization. Meanwhile, the SQFlash EU-2 PCIe Gen.5 x4 SSD leverages cutting-edge PCIe 5.0 technology, setting new standards in speed, reliability, and thermal management, making it ideal for data centers, enterprise computing, real-time analytics, and AI-driven workloads.

Exascend, a global leader in advanced storage and memory solutions, proudly unveils its flagship Nitro Pro CFexpress 4.0 Type B Card, available in 512 GB and 1 TB capacities. Meticulously engineered to surpass the demands of professional content creators, the Nitro Pro series sets new benchmarks in speed, efficiency, reliability, and durability. Built for those who push creative boundaries, this no-compromise card delivers the power and resilience essential for capturing every critical shot, even in the most challenging environments.

Next Generation Performance with Optimized Low-Power Design
The Nitro Pro CFexpress 4.0 Type B Card brings uncompromising performance to professional photographers and cinematographers, with maximum read speeds up to 3,750 MB/s and sustained write speeds up to 3,300 MB/s, doubling the performance of Nitro CFexpress 2.0 Card. Its VPG400 certification ensures seamless high-resolution video and rapid-fire photography, making it ideal for demanding workflows, including up to 12K RAW video recording. Compatible with legacy and flagship cameras, the Nitro Pro CFexpress 4.0 Type B Card integrates effortlessly into any workflow, future-proofed for years to come.

QNAP Systems, Inc., a leading innovator in computing, networking, and storage solutions, has unveiled the TS-h1277AFX, a 12-bay tower all-flash NAS designed to meet the rigorous demands of multimedia production and virtualization. Powered by an AMD Ryzen 7 9000 Series processor, the TS-h1277AFX can be upgraded to 25GbE via expansion cards for high-speed data access. Combining exceptional performance and capacity, it serves as a centralized hub for storage, backup, and disaster recovery, making it an ideal choice for dynamic and collaborative work environments.

"All-flash NAS solutions are crucial for media professionals," said Alex Shih, Product Manager of QNAP, adding "the TS-h1277AFX delivers low-latency, multi-user access that optimizes collaboration workflows. It provides an excellent price-to-performance ratio for creative teams, enabling seamless 4K/8K media transfers, real-time editing, and secure file management."