The increasing adoption of artificial intelligence (AI), cloud-based services, and data analytics, especially with the growing digitization and application of Internet of Things (IoT) systems in many sectors, which in turn is driving the exponential growth in data generated, is fueling the growth of the global data storage market. According to Fortune Business Insights, the global data storage market is forecast to grow to around $778 billion by 2030 from $247.3 billion in 2023, reflecting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17.8%.

Such is a boon for solid-state drive (SSD) manufacturers such as Exascend—an expert in storage technology—and the market as a whole, which Mordor Intelligence projects will reach $147 billion by 2029, up from $65.47 billion in 2024, with a CAGR of 17.56%.

Founded in 2016 by engineers from storage leaders like Micron, LSI/SandForce, Broadcom, and Seagate, Exascend has a clear mission: to customize flash storage solutions for customers’ specific needs.

“Our products are meticulously tailored to prioritize performance, power, thermal management, capacity, and security,” says Frank Chen, CEO of Exascend. With an in-depth comprehension of the intricate details influencing SSD performance and reliability, including flash management, wear leveling, enterprise-grade quality of service (QoS), performance consistency, and ruggedization factors, Chen, also acting as Chief Product Officer, leads Exascend’s vision, innovation, and growth, defining the entire product portfolio.

Exascend not only innovates in storage technology, but also provides a comprehensive range of services, including locked BOM, extended product life cycle support, and agile custom manufacturing and testing services.

Chen underscores their unique commitment to clients through engineering consulting, setting them apart from typical storage vendors. “We don’t just sell products; we genuinely guide our customers in selecting the right solution that best fit their unique requirements. Our approach is about empowering our customer, whether through tools or knowledge.”

Delivering perfect balance between power, performance, and capacity

Historically, storage needs centered around acquiring and storing data at speeds hovering around 340MBps. However, as the industry transitions to PCIe, currently at PCIe Gen4, it has introduced additional complexities and challenges. Chen explains, “With transfer speeds of up to 6GBps and 7GBps—approximately 15 times faster than SATA speeds—customers are now grappling with issues related to power and performance.” As speeds increase, considerations for power and thermal management become paramount.

Exascend finds itself at the forefront of addressing these challenges, attracting customers seeking solutions like 4TB and 8TB SSDs with sustained bandwidths exceeding 2.5GBps or 3GBps, all while limiting power consumption to 5W. The emphasis is on striking the perfect balance between power, performance, and capacity in a rapidly evolving landscape.

“For both the industrial and automotive sectors, storage solutions must be extremely reliable to withstand harsh conditions, extreme temperatures, vibrations, and shock,” says Chen. “Customers now demand higher endurance and better reliability to ensure uninterrupted operations in these challenging environments.”

Focus on security

In line with the increasing demand for data storage is the risk of cyber threats. According to Grand View Research, the proliferation of connected devices enabled by IoT and intelligent technologies is expected to increase the risk of cyberattacks. This, on the other hand, is driving the growth of the cyber security market, which is forecast to register a CAGR of 12.3% from 2023 to 2030.

Greater data security is one of the key features of Exascend’s storage solutions. “As the industry gets more interconnected, the importance of data security skyrockets,” says Chen. “The customers in these sectors are increasingly seeking advanced encryption, authentication, and protection against data breaches, especially considering the accessive nature of automotive and industrial data.”

In fact, the company goes beyond the simple AES 256 encryption standards. “We have another set of authentication technologies that, for example, if a drive or module storage product is moved from an authorized system and tried to be activated, or some hacker is trying to used it in an unauthenticated host, the device itself will not even respond, thus protecting the data from being breached,” Chen explains.

Industry recognition

In 2023, Exascend unveiled several noteworthy products, demonstrating a commitment to innovation and design excellence in data storage solutions.

“We demonstrated our industry leadership in industrial storage with the introduction of the 8TB M.2 industrial grade SSD, as well as a 16TB U.2 industrial PCIe Gen4 product. It has very low-power consumption, with 3GBps of sustained write at less than 7.5W. We have also introduced our automotive-grade PCIe Gen4 BGA SSD storage,” says Chen. “These are three of the most notable products on the industrial side.”

Notably, the 8TB M.2 NVMe SSD, recipient of the Best Memory Module award at the EE Awards Asia 2023, reflects Exascend’s dedication to quality, innovation, and meeting specialized customer needs. Chen elaborates on the intricacies of the award-winning product, highlighting the combination of the highest density DRAM, the smallest controller, and the highest density NAND, enabled by Exascend-powered firmware architecture.

“Winning the Best Memory Module award at EE Awards Asia 2023 really reflects Exascend’s dedication to quality, innovation, and anticipating our customers’ specialized needs,” says Chen. “We aim to continue contributing to the industry with innovation and technology. Hopefully, this is one of many future recognitions from EE Awards Asia. We have more products coming in this year, and we hope to see you again.”

In addition to these achievements, Exascend made waves in 2023 with the launch of the Explorer series portable SSD, recognized with the Red Dot Award for outstanding product design, functionality, and impact. This rugged solution caters to high-end cinematography and datalogging, boasting sustained transfer rates of over 2GBps and storage capacity of up to 8TB.

Also noteworthy is the Best in Show award received at Embedded World 2022 for Exascend’s industrial-grade E1.S SSD. Despite being half the size of U.2 (7.5mm), the E1.S accommodates an impressive 8TB capacity, with its casing providing both environmental protection and efficient cooling. Chen elaborates on the capabilities of the E1.S, stating, “E1.S sustains PCIe Gen4 performance while being hot-pluggable, making it an ideal choice for space-constrained rugged applications such as ADAS or transportation.”

Outlook

As the memory industry recovers, Exascend anticipates an upswing in memory and storage prices. TrendForce forecasts a rise in the mobile DRAM and NAND Flash (eMMC/UFS) prices, indicating a positive trend for the industry. Chen remarks, “I think we will see memory and storage prices may be a little bit back on the upswing again this year.”

Looking ahead to 2024, Exascend’s goals include building extremely low-power Gen4 PCIe products, setting benchmarks in power efficiency and performance per watt. Chen underscores the importance of energy efficiency alongside pure performance, envisioning a metric where SSDs are rated based on performance per watt. The roadmap includes products that achieve 3.5GB of read performance and 3GB of sustained write at less than 2W, targeting the industrial and automotive markets.

By: DocMemory
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