Pure Storage: New systems, new software and new markets

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Pure Storage presented a whole range of innovations and product enhancements at its latest customer event, Accelerate. The focus was on the Enterprise Data Cloud (EDC). This is a further development of its architecture, consisting of FlashArray and FlashBlade as well as an intelligent control plane, which includes Fusion, Pure1 and the AI Copilot.

The purpose is to standardize the data from this infrastructure in a virtualized data cloud. To illustrate this, reference is made to storage usage in a public cloud, where the necessary storage requirements are defined with just a few entries and clicks and then virtual storage is assigned – without the user knowing the physical and technical details. This should be similarly easy with EDC.

“In combination with the AI copilot, which also supports storage optimization, EDC comes very close to the storage provisioning of a hyperscaler,” says Pure Storage. The EDC platform also offers extensive automation, for example in the form of storage-as-code and an API connection.

Pure Fusion fuses everything

The centerpiece is the Pure Fusion software, which combines all storage units into one resource pool. It is natively integrated into the arrays so that they can register themselves and be accessed directly. This is intended to create a larger storage fleet without the need for higher-level configurations by an administrator. According to Pure Storage, this storage fleet can then be managed on any storage system, i.e., on any endpoint.

Pure Fusion also has presets and remote deployments for file, block, and object services across the entire fleet. This is designed to provide more flexibility in adapting to the specific requirements of individual workloads, as required deployments no longer need to be planned in advance. These presets are based on telemetry data from third-party providers such as Cisco, Microsoft, VMware, ServiceNow, and Slack.

Customers can adopt these presets or create their own settings for their environment. Alternatively, they can use partner settings to automate applications and infrastructures.

New flash systems

The second major area of announcement was Pure Storage FlashArray and Pure Storage FlashBlade. Both now have new systems with more storage volume and faster access. The new Pure Storage FlashArray//XL R5 offers double the number of IOPS per array, and the raw capacity has been increased by 50 percent. The Pure Storage FlashBlade//S R2 is the latest version of the file and object array series and now has more powerful controller blades.

FlashArray//ST is also coming onto the market. This is a new block storage series that primarily supports in-memory databases, log writing and scale-out NoSQL databases with its performance data. Snapshots and replication functions are available for data backup.

New partners: Rubrik and CrowdStrike

Pure Storage also presented further partnerships. The new collaborations with Rubrik and CrowdStrike are intended to enhance the platform with better threat detection and logging functions. In particular, the collaboration with CrowdStrike aims to provide the first validated and secured on-premises storage for CrowdStrike LogScale. The aim is to ensure that long-term log data can be stored securely and that it is always available and immediately searchable.

Risky realignment – Analysts are skeptical

The new strategy is viewed differently by analysts. “With EDC, Pure Storage is pursuing an approach that focuses on data management,” says Simon Robinson, analyst at the Enterprise Strategy Group. He sees a lot of potential in this. “The integration of storage into the overarching IT structure is still one of the biggest challenges in corporate storage management,” Robinson continues. However, it remains to be seen whether Pure Storage will be able to hold its own against the incumbents.

Especially in comparison with NetApp, Pure Storage is not considered advantageous by everyone. “The data management functions provided by NetApp appear more comprehensive compared to the EDC offering,” says Brent Ellis, analyst at Forrester Research. “EDC does provide seamless storage management, especially when managing the device fleet. But it doesn't offer the features that NetApp announced last fall with the universal metadata layer and global namespace extensions for OnTap,” Ellis continued.

Ray Lucchesi, founder and president of Silverton Consulting, sees another problem: “A unified storage architecture is definitely useful, but most customers don't need flash storage for their object storage needs, with traditional on-premises or cloud hard drives more likely to achieve the desired size and price range,” is his assessment.

(mki)