Pure Storage Takes Shots at Legacy File Storage with New Features

Pure Storage says new features it's rolling out will help customers where legacy file storage can’t.

Front and center is Real-time Enterprise File, file services the vendor said “change, adapt and reconfigure in real-time to meet the demands of modern applications.”

The vendor contended that today’s data-intensive applications demand more than legacy file storage can offer. It said traditional file storage is “burdened by outdated, rigid architectures and multiple layers of protocol and management complexity.” This make it impossible to meet the evolving needs of modern workloads like AI, analytics and VDI.

However, Pure Storage says Real-time Enterprise File is purpose-built to address the limitations of traditional file storage. This includes allowing customers to adjust in real time to business changes.

Real-time Enterprise File offers global storage pools which allow organizations to maximize their storage resources, “without the complexity of planning and creating storage reservations or allocations for each array.” In addition, through Pure Fusion, fleet-wide operations are automated, including workload placement and rebalancing of any combination of arrays across the organization’s Pure Storage data storage estate.

Pure also said that with legacy file storage, if an application requires access to data with a different performance profile, it forces time-consuming, physical data movement to the array that meets the performance needs. Real-time Enterprise File delivers zero-move tiering, which enables IT to deliver the required performance level without the need to physically move data between tiers.

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It added that only Pure offers true non-disruptive upgrades (NDU) across its entire platform. This ensures in-place upgrades for both hardware and software, without the need for data migration or any data loss, no matter what the upgrade is.

Pure is also introducing the new FlashBlade//S100, an AI-ready platform with GPUDirect support which brings progressive pricing across all price points. It features a scale-out architecture designed for entry-level enterprise use cases, including AI, compliance, content sharing, image repositories, IoT, edge and ROBO applications.

Pure Adds Universal Credits and (VM) Assessment to Platform

Pure Storage revealed its storage as a service (STaaS) strategy in 2023 by updating Evergreen with an Evergreen//One storage as a service and Evergreen Flex subscription. This, it said, would disrupt the legacy file storage market.

Now it says it's introducing the industry’s first Universal Credits. These allow businesses to purchase a pool of credits and use them across various services without being locked into specific subscriptions, while providing predictable billing. Customers can leverage volume discounts by purchasing Universal Credits, applying them across various Evergreen//One, Pure Cloud Block Store and Portworx services.

Elsewhere, the vendor is offering a new virtual machine (VM) assessment. This aims to inform IT decision making on modernizing virtualization operations for critical workloads. VM Assessment offers performance monitoring, enhanced scenario planning, and rightsizing recommendations through Pure1. VM Assessment is available to all customers free of charge with their Pure1 subscription.

New Features 'Great News' for Pure Channel Partners

Geoff Greenlaw, VP partners, EMEA & LatAM, Pure Storage, said the announcements “are great news” for partners.

Pure Storage's Geoff Greenlaw

“Our partners can create greater value with future-proofed capabilities that integrate seamlessly into their go-to-market strategy. Today’s business environment demands partners have expertise across a spectrum of industry issues and use cases. Our announcements today support partners with further modernization, helping customers speed up decision making and accelerating time to value. This supports our partners and solidifies their position as trusted advisors to end-users.

“We continue to enhance our platform to redefine the standards for enterprise-grade agility, simplicity and lead the market with our deepening STaaS leadership. In this way, we’re continuing to demonstrate our commitment to partners," Greenlaw added.