NVMe comes to the consumer platform. Solid-state drives (SSDs) are one of the best PC innovations of the last decade. Near-instant access, noiseless operation and low energy consumption drive a better user experience in various form factors.

Concentrating on the home PC for a moment, most SSDs are presented in a 2.5in form factor and connect to the system via the SATA 6Gbps interface. Other formats are available, including mSATA and nascent M.2, but regular SATA continues to hold sway for the majority of drives.

But there are two problems with using SATA for the long term. The first is a lack of bandwidth imposed by the interface, topping out at a usable 550MB/s or so. The second is the transfer protocol used to communicate between drive and system host controller, which is predominantly Advanced Host Controller Interface (AHCI).