Gigabyte follows on the "overwhelmingly positive" reception to its first SATA SSDs with the announcement of a selection of NVMe PCIe M.2 SSDs, available in 128, 256 and 512GB capacities.

The SSDs adopt mainstream 2280 specifications, and operate via the PCIe Gen3 x2 M.2 interface to remove the need for power and transmission cables used by traditional SATA SSDs. Installation of the M.2 devices is more straightforward, while the lack of cables makes way for improved airflow and heat dissipation in the case.

Seagate is all about 14TB HDDs, as it launches a range of drives covering both consumer and enterprise applications-- the the IronWolf and IronWolf Pro NAS drives, BarraCuda Pro desktop drive, the surveillance-optimised SkyHawk and Exos X14 datacentre model.

The Iron Wolf/Iron Wolf Pro drives are built for multi-user environments, and promise best-in-class performance for always-on environments. They claim a workload rating of 300TB/year, and are optimised with AgileArray firmware for NAS servers to offer benefits such as RAID performance, dual-plane balance, rotational vibration (RV) sensors, advanced power management and error recovery control.

Meanwhile the BarraCuda Pro 14TB 3.5-inch HDD is ideal for demanding customers as well as creative professionals and small businesses handling large amounts of data. It offers 7200 RPM spin speed, 250mb/s data transfer rates and up to 256MB cache powered via Multi-Tier Caching Technology (MTC). As such, Seagate says it can handle 8K video editing or the large file transfers to an attached backup.

Samsung launches the Portable SSD X5-- the first NVMe-based portable SSD from the company, featuring "cutting-edge" Thunderbolt 3 technology to bring customers speedy data transfers within a durable form factor.

“As a leader in high-performance and reliable storage solutions, we are thrilled to continue to advance the external SSD market with the introduction of our first Thunderbolt 3 portable SSD,” the company says. “The X5 is yet another testament to Samsung’s commitment to providing innovative portable storage solutions that enable faster transfer of large data files, saving users’ valuable time.”

Intel launches what it claims is "the first QLC-based client PCIe SSD in the industry"-- the 660p series, drives built on the M.2-2280 form factor complete with speedy NVMe connectivity.

The 660p features 64-layer 3D QLC flash supplied by Intel-Micron subsidiary IMFlash Technology. According to Intel, "QLC and SLC 'spans' on the drive adjust bi-directionally based on used capacity for the life of the product. Increases in capacity usage trigger the SLC span to decrease, and decreases in capacity usage trigger the SLC span to increase." As mentioned earlier connectivity comes through NVMe, as well as PCIe 3.0x4.