Introducing the Stornado E16: The Next Generation of NVMe Performance
We’re thrilled to announce the latest addition to the Stornado family – the E16, a 16-bay, Generation 5 NVMe direct-connected server built for those who demand the fastest possible speeds with the lowest latency.
Why We Built the E16
The E16 was born out of customer demand. We kept hearing the same thing: “We love your NVMe servers, but we need Gen5 speeds and minimal latency.”
So, we got to work.
We redesigned our backplanes, moved to a new E1S form factor for NVMe drives, and sourced a new motherboard with more Gen5 lanes. Most importantly, we eliminated the HBA cards entirely.
Our previous model, the F16, is an incredibly fast Gen4 NVMe server that uses LSI 9600 HBA cards to connect drives. While this setup offers great flexibility, like tri-mode support, it does introduce an additional layer between the drives and the motherboard. For some workloads, that layer matters. The E16 removes it completely.
Built for the Most Demanding Workloads
One of the key partners that helped shape the E16 is Weka. It is a company known for its high-performance distributed file system widely used in AI and other data-intensive industries.
Much like how Netflix’s feedback influenced our original direct-wired Stornado architecture, Weka’s insights pushed us to rethink how we connect drives at the hardware level.
This resulted in a server that delivers ridiculously fast Gen5 speeds from every drive, natively connected directly to the motherboard. No HBA, no extra software drivers, just pure NVMe performance.
What’s Inside the E16
Here’s a breakdown of what you’ll find in the E16:
- 2 NVMe boot drives for the operating system
- 16 bays of E1S form factor NVMe drives for blazing-fast storage
- Redesigned backplanes optimised for airflow and easy drive insertion
- A direct power distribution system with a bus bar connected straight to the power supplies for clean, reliable power to all drives
- MCIO pass-through cards that connect the backplanes via MCIO cables directly into the Gen5 lanes on the motherboard: no HBA, no middleware, just native NVMe
- Multiple PCIe slots on the motherboard – four are used to connect all drives, leaving up to four additional slots free for high-speed networking or even a small form factor GPU
Mind-Blowing Performance Numbers
Each drive in the E16 delivers approximately 12 GB/s read speeds. Multiply that across all 16 drives, and you’re looking at an enormous amount of throughput. You’ll need serious network bandwidth to take full advantage of it. But if your workload demands it, the E16 is ready to deliver.
Check our website for more information!
Available Now
The E16 is available to order today. Head to our website to configure your build. One of our account managers will be in touch to walk you through the details.
