Pure Storage Rolls Out Petabyte-Scale Flash Storage

By Steve Anderson, Contributing Writer  |  October 13, 2016

One of the biggest problems for flash storage has long been its comparative lack of storage capability against its direct equivalent, hard disk storage. A terabyte in hard disk was much easier to get, and much less expensive, than a terabyte in flash. However, Pure Storage may well have beaten that part of the flash / hard disk debate thanks to its new petabyte-scale storage system, now available for cloud-based information technology (IT) systems.

The new release from Pure Storage, the FlashArray//m, offers not only that massive petabyte-scale operation—equivalent to about 1,000 terabytes; two of which are enough to store the output of every academic research library in the United States, reports note—but also availability measured in six-nines (99.9999) output along with an always-on Quality of Service (QoS) capability. That means virtually no storage downtime, which can be an impressive development by any standard, and an effective annual downtime of just 31.5 seconds on average.

Additionally, Pure Storage is also bringing out the Smart Storage system, a system that allows users to better use that petabyte-scale system that can deliver many of the necessary options required for cloud IT presences, like automation and resiliency. Now, the system can not only offer up to 512 terabytes of raw flash storage—roughly 1.5 petabytes worth of effective capacity—and keep it all comparatively contained, requiring just 7U of rack space to run. With Pure Storage's Evergreen architecture included, upgrades from legacy systems to FlashArray//m become a much easier prospect.

Pure Storage can deliver this level of capability thanks in part to its Pure1 Global Insight system, a predictive analytics platform that has helped to resolve thousands of issues seen across its global user base. With all that information in hand, it can effectively address many common problems before they yield downtime, and sometimes, even some substantial problems can be addressed. The system has reportedly interdicted Severity 1-grade issues in over 170 cases so far this year.

Not only do we now have a system with substantial storage capability, but we also have a system that's on virtually all of the time. Issues that might crop up can be dealt with almost automatically, and that means a much better value. In an environment where cloud-based systems are increasingly prized for their scalability and availability, as well as vastly reduced capital expenditure, being able to provide storage and uptime is a vital component of providing cloud-based systems.

Being ready to take advantage of this growing market predicates on having the right infrastructure to offer it. Tools like Pure Storage's storage array may make all the difference to potential cloud service customers, making it a potentially significant competitive edge in the field.




Edited by Alicia Young
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