With XFMEXPRESS, Toshiba introduces a new form factor for fast NVMe memory, ranging in size from M.2 to BGA NVMe SSDs. The advantage of the new format, which is particularly interesting for system integrators of ultra-notebooks, embedded devices, consoles and IoT devices, is that XFMEXPRESS memory cards are as small as soldered BGAs, but in contrast to them they are exchangeable and thus as easily expandable as M.2 SSDs. For example, in the event of an upgrade or a defect, the entire mainboard does not have to be replaced.
XFMEXPRESS
The new XFMEXPRESS slots used by the cards can be connected to the system via PCIe 3.0 or the new PCIe 4.0 using 2 to 4 lanes. At the start the theoretical bandwidth will be 4GB/s (the practical bandwidth will be lower because of the overhead), but it can be doubled to 8GB/s in the future.
XFMEXPRESS form factor in comparison
The question is, of course, whether a new format introduced by a manufacturer will succeed on the market. There is definitely a need for a small, fast and above all expandable storage format - and it will grow even faster in the future. Toshiba has not yet announced the release date of the new XFMEXPRESS, but Lenovo is already the first major partner.
XFMEXPRESSE extensibility
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