FADU Unveils FS-SSD, Allowing Accelerators to Bypass CPU and Memory for Direct Storage Access

At the OCP Global Summit 2026, FADU announced a new FS-SSD drive designed to revolutionize data access for servers. Essentially, the FS-SSD enables accelerators to directly access storage files without having to rely on CPU or system memory. The FS-SSD will therefore drastically reduce the latency of data access and allow CPUs to utilize resources on other workloads. This will improve efficiency of overall server stacks where massive workloads are being executed for AI or analytics applications.

FADU introduces FS-SSD and FC6161 controller at OCP Summit 2026

The new FS-SSD drive uses the FC6161 "Sierra" controller that works with the PCIe Gen6 interface. FADU is marketing this drive as the world’s first file semantic solid state drive. The FC6161 controller has firmware that is aware of file semantics. This utilizes special NVMe commands to enable file operations and communicate directly with accelerators.

FS-SSD Specifications

• Product Name: FS-SSD (File Semantic SSD)
• Controller Model: FC6161 "Sierra"
• Interface: PCIe Gen6
• Sequential Write Power: <28W
• Idle Power: <5W

FADU claims that their new FC6161 controller is 2.5x faster than the previous generation controller. They also provided concrete limits on the power usage of their silicon. First, the controller will consume less than 5W when idle.

Second, the controller will consume less than 6W for reads. Third, for writes, it will consume less than 7W. Finally, for sequential writes, the whole drive will consume less than 28W.

We currently have no confirmation on the power claims or that this is the world's first solid state drive. FADU presented these numbers at the OCP summit with no outside benchmarks. Additionally, they were marketing this drive as a means to bypass traditional software layers. There is no information on pricing or release dates at this time.