What is it?

This board allows you to create an extra USB port in your system by breaking out the USB signals which are always present on miniPCIe slots. This is useful e.g. for adding USB peripherals to small form factor PCs or to add an internal bootable USB stick to server systems that feature an internal miniPCIe slot. The board fits both full-size and half-size slots; you can break off half of the board cleanly to fit it into smaller mPCIe slots.

Why did you make it?

This board has a shared history with my mSATA to SATA board listing, formerly known as mSATA to SATA/USB. Throughout most of mSATA's history, the mSATA port was a shared mSATA/mPCIe slot which featured pinning for both SATA and USB. This led me to design an mSATA to SATA and USB board. Unfortunately, as time progressed dedicated mSATA slots in modern machines have apparently dropped USB support. Therefore I split this product from the mSATA to SATA board and now I have two separate listings.

What makes it special?

This is one of - as far as I know - two designs that works in half-size slots and is available to the general public (instead of only available with a MOQ of 50 from alibaba). It's also relatively cheap.