FADU Moves File Operations Into SSD Firmware
FADU unveiled its File-Semantic SSD (FS-SSD) at the 2026 OCP Global Summit, moving path lookup, access checks, and file-to-flash mapping into the drive while carrying NFSv3 operations in standard NVMe commands. In FADU's preliminary vendor test, a Gen6 FC6161 drive in a PCIe 5.0 host maintained about 460,000 remote file operations per second as the server was reduced from what FADU labels as 16 cores to one. The company expects PCIe 6.0 Gen6-host results by Q1 2027. The current software lacks features including ACLs, and FADU has not submitted a file-semantic command set to NVM Express or OCP Storage.
FS-SSD is designed to remove host file-system, block-layer, and storage-server CPU work from the access path for GPUs, DPUs, NICs, and remote clients. FADU's claim that host file-system and block-layer work consumes about 30% of CPU cycles in a GPUDirect Storage random-read workload is a vendor measurement that has not been independently reproduced, while a PCIe 6.0 host run is needed to assess the broader performance claims.
SSD controller designer FADU’s new File-Semantic SSD (FS-SSD) was announced at the 2026 OCP Global Summit. The new device promises to move the file system into the SSD itself. As detailed in a white paper, this enables GPUs, DPUs, and NICs to open and read files with “no host filesystem, no block layer, and no storage-server CPU in the path.” FADU told Tom’s Hardware Premium it expects partner samples by Q3 2027.
FADU is a Seoul, South Korea-based fabless SSD controller designer. Its FS-SSD technology is designed to handle and improve the control path, as the data path side moved to accelerators years ago. FADU’s measurements show that the file system, plus block layers, can consume about 30% of CPU cycles in a GPUDirect Storage (GDS) random-read workload. It notes that bypass options give up the files, and the company claims its solution promises the best of both worlds.
In FADU’s own preliminary Network File System (NFS) over NVMe test, on a drive built on its FC6161 Gen6 controller in a PCIe 5.0 host, remote file throughput held steady as the server downshifted from what FADU labels 16 cores to just one, maintaining about 460,000 ops/s.
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