During CloudFest 2025, KIOXIA was delighted to win the prestigious Nimbus Innovation Award in the ‘Best SSD Innovation’ category for its Optical Interface SSD. The technology replaces conventional wiring with optical wiring enabling data centre engineers to increase the physical distance between devices while maintaining energy efficiency and high signal quality.
“This is a significant achievement that will further strengthen our brand and reinforce our leadership,” said Jürgen Ahaus, General Manager SSD Engineering at KIOXIA Europe, on receiving the Nimbus Innovation Award.
Paul Rowan, Chief Marketing Officer & Vice President at KIOXIA Europe, added: “KIOXIA invented flash memory, a storage technology fundamental to modern AI systems. Our innovative high-capacity drives offer the storage efficiency and scalability essential for managing large datasets and supporting AI applications.”
Visitors to the stand were also introduced to KIOXIA’s new LC9 Series 122.88 terabyte (TB*) capacity NVMe SSD in a 2.5”* form factor – a game changer to the industry that addresses the growing storage demands of AI workloads, offering ultra-high capacity, efficient performance, and scalability for applications such as large language models (LLMs), generative AI, and vector databases.
Plus, KIOXIA presented its AiSAQ technology in an academy session, highlighting its ability to enhance retrieval augmented generation (RAG) workflows by eliminating the need for DRAM, enabling scalable performance, and optimising vector database searches directly on SSDs.
Another key highlight during the festival was a demo of the NVMe-optimised servers from co-exhibitors primeLine Solutions GmbH.
“Our longstanding collaboration with KIOXIA has empowered us to incorporate top-tier SSD memory solutions in custom-built servers and workstations, ensuring unmatched reliability, speed, and efficiency,” said Petros Jossifidis, CEO at primeLine Solutions. “KIOXIA’s innovative storage technology enhances our ability to craft personalised systems for our customers.”
KIOXIA’s system partners Microchip Technology and AIC demonstrated the AIC SB102-HK storage server, equipped with a Microchip Host Bus Adapter (HBA Ultra 1200p-16i) and five hot-swappable KIOXIA CD8 NVMe SSDs featuring TCG OPAL, to illustrate the simplicity and speed with which integrators can secure data centre and enterprise environments.
During CloudFest, KIOXIA delivered a lightning talk covering the latest advancements in storage innovation designed to support heavy AI workloads. In addition, KIOXIA gave two insightful keynotes – one on advanced NAND Flash technology and the other introducing the company’s innovative optical SSD technology. KIOXIA also hosted an academy session with primeLine Solutions to share insights on accelerating modern AI processes and addressing security challenges.
Planning for CloudFest 2026 is already underway, and KIOXIA is excited to build on the success of this year’s event.
