Micron demonstrated the world’s fastest SSD featuring PCIe 6.x technology, achieving a sequential read speed of 27GB/s during DesignCon 2025, showcasing the record-setting performance in collaboration with Astera Labs.
Micron unveils world’s fastest SSD with PCIe 6.x technology
Micron’s newly unveiled PCIe 6.x SSD prototype, boasting a sequential read speed of 27GB/s, is recognized by Astera Labs as the fastest SSD leveraging PCIe 6.x. This prototype surpasses Micron’s previous PCIe 6.x SSD, which was launched in 2024 and achieved speeds surpassing 26GB/s.
During the DesignCon 2025 event, the Micron PCIe 6.x SSD was connected with Astera Labs’ Scorpio P-Series Fabric Switch, which contributed to a data transfer rate nearly double that of the fastest available PCIe 5.0 SSDs.
The Scorpio P-Series switch, introduced in late 2024, features 64 PCIe 6.x lanes and a four-port architecture, enabling the high-speed interconnectivity essential for seamless data flow between storage systems, processors, and GPUs.
The demonstration utilized NVIDIA’s Magnum IO GPUDirect Storage to create a direct data path between the Micron SSDs and an NVIDIA H100 GPU, effectively bypassing the CPU for more efficient processing.
This configuration illustrates the potential of PCIe 6.x technology to enhance AI tool and cloud storage workloads, where high speed is a crucial requirement.
Advantages of PCIe 6.x technology
PCIe 6.x provides double the bandwidth of PCIe 5.0, enabling up to 256GB/s of bidirectional throughput in an x16 lane configuration. This significant increase in throughput reduces bottlenecks in AI training and inference tasks, addressing the computational demands of contemporary AI workloads.
Hyperscale data centers are expected to benefit from this enhanced performance; however, widespread adoption of PCIe 6.x technology hinges on broader ecosystem support, including compatible CPUs, GPUs, and network interfaces.
At the event, Astera Labs and Micron showcased their innovative technology, emphasizing the first public demonstration of end-to-end interoperability between a PCIe 6.x switch and a PCIe 6.x SSD, currently under ecosystem development.
The Astera Labs Scorpio P-Series Fabric Switch is designed specifically for mixed traffic head-node AI connectivity, providing reliable and high-performance data flows. The collaboration signifies a commitment to accelerate PCIe 6.x ecosystem development and support AI and cloud infrastructure requirements.
The demonstration setup at DesignCon comprised one Scorpio P-Series Fabric Switch linked to a CPU host and an NVIDIA H100 GPU, along with two PCIe 6.x E3.S Micron SSDs. The demo yielded sequential read speeds of 27.14 GB/s (25.2 GiB/s) for each drive, as observed through the COSMOS utility.
As hyperscale data centers continually adapt to increasing AI workload demands, the need for high-speed interconnects, low-latency communication, scalable architectures, and rapid data storage access becomes imperative. PCIe 6.x technology aims to meet these evolving requirements, paving the way for enhanced AI applications and efficient computing environments.
Astera Labs’ Scorpio P-Series Fabric Switches integrate the COSMOS software suite, which offers deep insights into computing platform health and performance, maximizing uptime and operational efficiency.
Through collaborative efforts, Astera Labs and Micron are poised to drive PCIe 6.x adoption within the industry, setting the stage for expansive implementations across data center infrastructures.
Visit Astera Labs at DesignCon 2025
Attendees can visit Astera Labs at Booth #755 during the DesignCon 2025 Expo, taking place January 29-30 at the Santa Clara Convention Center, to experience end-to-end PCIe 6.x connectivity demonstrations and engage with PCIe experts.
Featured image credit: Emre Çıtak/Midjourney
