Data Movement and Storage Hardware

Data movement and storage hardware enables high‑speed transfer of large data sets between devices and provides modular storage for logging, recording, and playback. Examples include PXI high-speed serial modules or FPGA coprocessor modules for I/O connectivity, network interface cards for external server connectivity, and PXI Express storage modules. These devices support low‑latency streaming, real‑time processing, and scalable capacity for demanding test workflows. This type of hardware is used in high‑speed testing, industrial automation, scientific research, communications, automotive and aerospace systems, and medical imaging, all of which require large and fast data streams to be captured, transferred, processed, and stored.

Data movement hardware is evaluated based on throughput, latency, interface compatibility, processing demands, and scalability of the application at hand. The entire data movement chain needs to be considered from end to end, including the demands placed on the host processor and memory. Often, data movement products provide means to avoid burdening the host’s processor and memory and overcoming system-wide bottlenecks by opening up alternate data routes and memory for peer-to-peer streaming. 

When evaluating data storage hardware, engineers focus on capacity, write/read speed, endurance, reliability, scalability, and ability to provide continuous high‑rate logging and retrieval.

NI data movement and storage hardware is engineered to handle the high‑throughput, low‑latency demands of modern test and measurement systems. By leveraging optimized bus architectures, high-bandwidth interfaces, and tightly integrated hardware components, NI solutions ensure that large volumes of data can be transferred, buffered, and archived reliably, even in the most complex, real‑time environments. 

In addition to the raw performance of the modular hardware, data-movement-focused chassis and controller features in PXI greatly reduce the complexity of custom hardware and software design needed to implement scalable and data intensive systems, systems the scale beyond traditional PC architectures. NI data movement and storage products stand out for their ease of integration within the broader ecosystem of NI software such as LabVIEW and the PXI platform, reducing setup complexity and reducing time to insight. This unified workflow, combined with NI long-term hardware dependability, empowers engineers to build test systems that are not only fast and flexible but also highly repeatable and future‑ready.