Leave Legacy behind with the Pure Storage Platform

Nostalgia is a powerful emotion. Based on the surging popularity of the once-dead vinyl format for music, Polaroid cameras, or even the resurgence of baggy, loose-fitting jeans from 20 years ago, the past has never seemed more present. But when it comes to powering modern applications, the technologies of the past just don’t cut it. 

New workloads are challenging us like never before. Whether it’s AI, VDI, EDA, analytics, or VM environments, IT is constantly asked to do more with fewer resources. The Pure Storage platform challenges legacy assumptions and restrictions with a consistent, as-a-service platform that meets the needs of all of your workloads—now and in the future.

One area in dire need of a new perspective is file services. Legacy file storage systems, built on technology from 20 years ago, lock customers into archaic, rigid architecture they can’t easily change, even as application requirements evolve. Over time, these inflexible file architectures begin to take on a life of their own. These “Frankenfiles” of complexity, made up of layer upon layer of management and protocol held together with a patchwork of other legacy management systems and technology, force IT to serve its needs instead of the other way around. 

The time has come to leave legacy where it belongs: in the past.

Powering Modern Workloads with Unmatched Simplicity

Today, Pure Storage is announcing that we are reinventing file services with Real-time Enterprise File. The Pure Storage platform, with Real-time Enterprise File, delivers a file services experience that changes, adapts, and reconfigures—dynamically and in real time—to meet the demands of modern applications. It unlocks cloud-like efficiency with a global storage pool that automatically and intelligently resizes and tiers storage on demand, even for your most demanding workloads.

Real-time Enterprise File eliminates complexity with a single-layer architecture, moving away from the outdated, multilayer approach of the past. Fewer layers to manage means freeing up budget, resources, and time so IT teams can focus on higher-value tasks. Not only does this streamline storage operations and cut down on unnecessary spend, but it also reduces exposure to external cyber threats with fewer third-party systems and technology to maintain.

And because Real-time Enterprise File is built on the Pure Storage platform, you can manage your entire fleet of arrays with global, policy-driven storage on one management plane for an effortless storage experience. The Pure Storage platform is the only unified storage platform that delivers dynamic, intelligent, as-a-service storage that evolves continuously to serve your business needs today while future-proofing your infrastructure for tomorrow. Powered by our unique Evergreen architecture, Pure Storage ensures non-disruptive upgrades for both hardware and software without data migration so your storage gets better over time.

While the allure of nostalgia is strong, to truly meet the challenges of tomorrow requires challenging legacy thinking and embracing a platform designed for the future.

Here’s what Real-time Enterprise File, built on the Pure Storage platform, delivers for customers like you.

Real-time Agility

Tier-less Data, Built for the Enterprise

In an industry-first, Zero Move Tiering enables FlashBlade® customers to leverage multiple classes of performance from a single pool of storage, eliminating the complexity, sprawl, and overhead of legacy data tiering. Zero Move Tiering dynamically and intelligently allocates storage resources, handling both the needs of hot and cold data, without manually moving data between tiers.

This means that large enterprises no longer have to worry about high latency, additional hardware, and increased costs, and instead experience the agility, predictable performance, and cost-efficiency needed to fuel growth.

All-flash for All Workloads

At Pure Storage, we believe that all your storage needs can (and should) be met using the latest in direct-flash technology. 

FlashBlade//S100 is an AI-ready platform with GPUDirect support, featuring a scale-out architecture designed for entry-level enterprise use cases including AI, compliance, content sharing, image repositories, IoT, edge, and ROBO applications. 

To further support efficient enterprise scalability, we’re once again expanding the boundaries of what’s possible with flash storage by introducing a 150TB DirectFlash® Module (DFM), available later this year. This incredible feat of engineering means that customers can now double the capacity on both the FlashArray™ and FlashBlade systems. 

Combined with our recent increase in chassis capacity of 40% for FlashArray//E™ and 30PB in a single namespace on FlashBlade, Pure Storage is helping customers increase scale while maintaining leading density per RU without sacrificing power efficiency or performance. 

With Pure Storage, customers can enhance their infrastructure with new, lower entry points for file and object storage as well as the densest, most efficient hardware on the market so more applications can leverage our future-proofed, all-flash technology. All of this is backed by our Evergreen architecture, delivering non-disruptive hardware and software updates, virtually forever.

Autonomous, Intelligent Global Fleet Management

Imagine bringing cloud-like scalability and operational efficiency on premises across both FlashArray and FlashBlade for file workloads on a single, consistent interface by automating the deployment, scaling, and management of these workloads. Imagine no more; that’s exactly what Pure Fusion™ was designed to do.

Pure Fusion seamlessly integrates with existing infrastructure to convert complex, manual tasks into a streamlined, efficient process. With the power of Real-time Enterprise File, Pure Fusion supports file workloads across both FlashArray and FlashBlade to automatically provision and scale workloads with simple workflows backed by AI-driven recommendations. By unifying global file infrastructure with the Pure Storage platform, Pure Fusion delivers the flexibility, agility, and reliability IT teams need to focus on innovation and growth rather than operations and overhead.

Customers can leverage Pure Fusion to create a repeatable model for automating and deploying file workloads across the enterprise from garden-variety business activities to cutting-edge AI training, all on a single platform.

Simplicity, Architected from the Ground Up

Always-on Enterprise File Capabilities 

Enterprise file capabilities in legacy systems have historically been difficult to deploy and manage. Often this introduces unnecessary overhead impacting efficiency. IT teams need a solution to ensure key enterprise capabilities are not just available but also simple to deploy and always on by default. Capabilities like effortless noisy-neighbor protection, automated logging of events, and simple protocol configuration are crucial. 

Always-on Quality of Service (QoS) optimizes performance for critical applications with automatic, intelligent performance management built into Purity. This enables the consolidation of these critical applications and lower-priority workloads on the same platform without compromising performance. Always-on QoS on the Pure Storage platform streamlines performance SLAs, protecting against runaway workloads and ensuring efficient resource utilization. It eliminates trade-offs between performance and simplicity to boost operational efficiency while preventing performance bottlenecks.

Always-on logging enables automated logging helping customers better audit events for improved security and forensics capabilities. This means admins don’t need to waste time configuring typical file access events and can access this critical information easily. Purity is completely changing the way file services perform logging by making it the default configuration of these systems rather than just an afterthought.

Always-on multi-protocol makes things even easier and more secure for users and administrators alike by supporting multi-protocol access by default, without requiring the creation of special access security policies. By simplifying protocol configuration for all use cases, IT teams can save time and reduce the risk of user error in setting up and maintaining multiple protocol configurations. 

Storage Made Simple

Who says that managing fleets of arrays has to be complicated and require teams of specialists? There’s a better way.

Pure Storage is making storage management easy by introducing a public trial for Copilot for File, an industry-first natural language model designed to empower IT generalists and seasoned storage practitioners alike. Customers can eliminate technological bottlenecks with a chatbot that can address file-related issues using natural language queries, saving time and resources. 

With the help of Copilot for File, customers can experience a streamlined management experience on a single management layer.

Keep File Workloads Safe

Building on the Secure Application Workspaces announcement at Pure//Accelerate® 2024, the Pure Storage platform is adding Secure Multi-tenancy (SMT) for modern file workloads.

SMT ensures secure workload isolation by allowing customers to keep different workloads in the same array. This results in more efficient storage utilization and eliminates the risk of data visibility among tenants. By improving visibility and planning with consolidated data and sharing across organizations, customers can leverage SMT to allow users or application groups to securely access their file data across different networks and domains.

Customers can now deliver new levels of performance, isolation, and adaptability for file services without the complexity and pre-planning required with legacy solutions.

Other Platform Innovations

Industry-first Innovation for Even More Flexibility

Pure Storage is the undisputed leader when it comes to as-a-service offerings. Backed by 10 concurrent SLAs and guarantees, Evergreen//One™ storage as a service (STaaS) provides the most comprehensive storage subscription on the market, and we’re the only vendor with a commitment to pay for customers’ power and rack space costs.

In yet another first for the industry, we’re introducing Universal Credits to deliver unprecedented flexibility to organizations of all sizes. Universal Credits provide a unique purchasing experience, enabling organizations to commit spend upfront on subscription services, including Evergreen//One and Pure Cloud Block Store™, and then consume these services in a cloud-like fashion with self-service activation. By locking in commitments in advance, Universal Credits simplify financial planning and budgeting, making it easier to manage expenses and reduce TCO, while also allowing customers to adapt the services they use dynamically within their credit commitment. This separation of procurement and consumption events empowers customers to streamline operations and move faster than ever before. 

Expanding the Reach of Evergreen//One

In a sustained effort to bring industry-leading STaaS to every customer on the planet, we’re also expanding our Evergreen//One services to additional regions. Now with 32 countries and counting, more organizations can take advantage of best-in-class all-flash as a service than ever before.

Improve Application Workload Performance

It’s no secret that recent developments in the virtualization software industry have many customers facing uncertainty and disruption. To help ease customers’ transition, the Pure Storage platform is introducing an intelligent Virtualization Assessment free of charge in Pure1®, our AIOps management plane. 

The VM Assessment is a powerful tool designed to help organizations rethink their virtualization strategies and modernize infrastructure on their terms and timelines. It provides comprehensive insights at the cluster, host, and VM levels, enabling a granular understanding of the VMware environment. By analyzing current resource utilization against VMware licensing models, the assessment can highlight inefficiencies to optimize licensing costs, right within the Pure1 interface. 

For example, if three hosts in a cluster of 16 are consistently performing with low utilization, the Virtualization Assessment would provide utilization insights that can help in making informed decisions to retire or repurpose these underutilized hosts, which helps organizations save money and resources.

IT leaders know that modern workloads require a modern, unified, platform-based approach and that legacy, siloed, and inflexible storage is not the answer. They also know that their legacy technology—and the vendors that sell it—can’t deliver the simplicity, performance, or security they need to excel in this new era of data.

The addition of Real-time Enterprise File to the Pure Storage platform represents the dawn of a new day for file services. Designed for the fast-paced demands of modern applications, Real-time Enterprise File adapts dynamically based on workload while simplifying management with automation and mitigating overall cyber risk. All of this is delivered on a consistent, unified, as-a-service platform meeting all of your storage needs so you never have to rebuy, ever. 

While the fashions and technologies of the past will rise and fall in popularity as trends change, we know what withstands the test of time: simplicity.

It’s the guiding principle that informs our platform, technologies, and subscriptions and it’s what we deliver every single day to customers all around the world. See how the Pure Storage platform can simplify your infrastructure to put data at your service.