The future data storage standard for film pros has arrived

Maximum drive performance: turns Mercury Helios 3S into a swappable U.2 NVMe SSD storage solution
Full speed ahead: up to 2631MB/s real-world performance…that’s over 4x faster than SATA drives' theoretical maximum speed
Durable solution: locking drive bay and tray protect U.2 connector from repeated swap wear for improved U.2 NVMe drive longevity and investment
Store more: install up to a 16TB U.2 NVMe SSD onto the drive tray

Keeps drives cool: uses Mercury Helios 3S thermally dynamic design and active cooling to reduce heat saturation and throttling
Use anywhere: enables U.2 NVMe drive use in the studio or out in the field
Designed for global workflows: small, lightweight drives provide dramatically lower production to lab shipping costs vs shipping larger, heavier drives

Speed. Security. Savings.

The holy trinity of data storage requirements in the production-to-lab workflow is transformed by the U.2 NVMe Interchange System and its application for the Mercury Helios 3S. By combining a locking drive bay and removable tray, the U.2 NVMe Interchange System turns the Mercury Helios 3S PCIe Expansion chassis (sold separately) into a time and money-saving swappable U.2 NVMe SSD storage solution for high-performance film production requirements.

Over 4x Faster SSD Performance

The “e” in U.2 NVMe SSDs stands for express…as in PCI Express. It’s a more direct and optimized path to a computer’s processor for the fastest data connection possible. While SATA is the most common consumer-grade SSD connection with up to 6Gb/s transfer rates, U.2 NVMe SSDs are designed to take advantage of the direct connection PCIe technology offers to achieve rates over 3.5x faster than SATA theoretical maximum speed with real-world tested speeds up to 2631MB/s.¹ It’s no wonder U.2 NVMe SSD use began in the enterprise and server market where ROI is defined in nanoseconds and ensuring reliability is paramount.

Now you can rapidly checksum, transfer data, and transcode the day’s shoot into the Mercury Helios 3S, quickly pull the Interchange System tray mounted U.2 NVMe SSD out and send it on to postproduction. Imagine no more tedious and time-consuming drive enclosure disassembly to access a storage drive and install a new drive.

Save Time and Money While Securing Data

For over three decades, OWC has listened to its customers and created innovative solutions that solved their data storage challenges. The U.2 NVMe Interchange System for Mercury Helios 3S continues that rich history with an integrated solution that saves M&E industry professionals time and money while safeguarding their data in three easy setup steps.

Step 1: Disconnect Thunderbolt 3 cable, loosen enclosure thumbscrews, and install drive bay into Helios 3S’s PCIe slot.

Step 2: Mount NVMe SSD up to 16TB capacity to the drive tray.

Step 3: Slide and lock tray into drive bay to secure your data and reconnect Thunderbolt 3 cable.

Need to get that drive to postproduction on a tight deadline with an equally tight project budget? Just pull the Interchange System drive tray out of the drive bay and ship it to enjoy significant cost savings over shipping a heavy enclosure. Then just swap in another drive with an additional tray (sold separately) to keep your data and projects flowing smoothly and securely.

2 Year OWC Limited Warranty

The best warranty is one you never have to use, but should the need occur — OWC is proud to provide a superior level of support and warranty coverage to our customers. Because 100% reliability is always the goal, U.2 NVMe is rigorously quality tested and backed by our 2 Year OWC Limited Warranty plus award-winning, 24/7 customer support.

Sequential read/write performance in iMac Pro Late 2017 (iMacPro1,1) with 32GB RAM, 1TB boot drive, and 3.2GHz processor running AJA System Test (4K-Full resolution, 64GB file size, 10bit RGB codec, single file test).