High-performance computer storage underpins the nation's leadership in artificial intelligence, high-performance computing, and cloud infrastructure. However, the high costs and scarcity of next-generation hardware constrain innovation. This project addresses this bottleneck by building a sustainable, community-governed open-source ecosystem around Fast Emulator (FEMU), a widely used solid-state drive (SSD) emulator. FEMU emulation enables rapid design of advanced computer storage systems using commodity hardware. By lowering barriers and expanding access to storage system research, the project accelerates innovation, strengthens research reproducibility, and broadens participation in computing. The outcomes support U.S. leadership in data-intensive computing, enhance academia–industry collaboration, and provide a model for managing impactful open-source research software. This project conducts scoping and planning activities to transition FEMU, a Quick Emulator (QEMU)-based SSD emulator, into a sustainable open-source ecosystem. Storage research faces several challenges, including fragmented tool chains, limited access to pre-silicon hardware, and a lack of standardized platforms for reproducible, full-stack evaluation. FEMU addresses these challenges by providing high-fidelity, software-defined emulation of modern and emerging storage interfaces, enabling research that spans applications, operating systems, and device firmware. By transitioning FEMU from centrally gove