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Basically, it provides a way to add two super-fast NVMe (nonvolatile memory express) SSDs (solid-state drives) to your Raspberry Pi 5, whether for redundancy or, more probably, to just add a load more storage to the Pi.
You have to populate the base unit with one or two M-key NVMe SSDs (2230 to 2280 sizes supported) and mount it underneath or over your Raspberry Pi for a compact and fast storage solution.
It comes from Pimoroni, which provides a guide for suitable drives to fit in. The company adds this important Note, note:
“NOTE: You cannot boot from NVMe drives installed on the NVMe Base Duo. We hope the RPi 5 firmware will support this in the future, but for now, it can only boot from drives that are the root device on the PCIe Bus. i.e. Not behind a packet switcher/multiplexer – you’ll need to boot from SD and then the system can handover to the pair of fast SSDs!”
Also, Pimoroni highlights, make sure your Raspberry Pi OS is up to date, and your RPi 5 firmware is updated to 2023-12-06 (Dec 6th) or newer.
Pricing
In terms of pricing, the drives-less base itself (PIM704) costs £30, the + 500GB SSD (2x250GB, PIM706) version costs £91.80 and the more capacious + 1000GB SSD (2x500GB, PIM705) version will set you back £115.50.
Note this will be a pre-order. It’s not out, just yet. The ETA is “Mid-April 2024”
NVMe Base Duo features
The Base Kit will be bundled with 2 x 250GB+ NVMe SSDs (PCIe Gen 3 or better, although the Base only supports Gen 2 speeds).
- NVMe Base Duo PCB with two M.2 slots (M-Key)
- ‘PCIe Flex’ Flat Flex Cable
- 4x Rubber feet
- 4x M2 bolt and 2x 5mm standoffs for SSD mounting
- 4x 12mm M2.5 standoffs for base mounting
- 8x short M2.5 bolts for base mounting
- 4x 20mm M2.5 bolts for ‘pass-thru’ mounting with a HAT
- NVMe Base Duo + 500GB (2 x 250GB) SSD Bundle
As you can see, the device comes with rubber feet for stability and traction.
