Pure Storage Flashes Data Storage Advances with FlashBlade//S Debut

The News: Pure Storage, an IT supplier of data storage technology and services, announced the FlashBlade//S family of products with a new modular architecture built on co-designed hardware and software. The new platform leverages a scalable metadata architecture, offering more than double the density, performance, and power efficiency of previous versions. The platform is designed to evolve over time in alignment with customer requirements. Read the Pure Storage Press Release here.

Pure Storage Flashes Data Storage Advances with FlashBlade//S Debut

Analyst Take: Pure Storage’s new FlashBlade//S offering builds on the company’s DirectFlash technology and unified fast file and object platform capabilities of the first-generation FlashBlade product that debuted in 2016. Now it’s an exabyte scale platform that blends flash-based performance storage with disk-based, capacity-oriented storage to fulfill the demands of rapidly evolving data workload and modern application development on a future-proof foundation. As a result, today all Pure hardware platforms share a common set of DirectFlash Modules.

Specifically, FlashBlade//S is available in two models: the S200, built for optimal efficiency, and the S500, built for extreme performance. By disaggregating computing from capacity that is key to enabling flexible, continuous storage, compute, and networking upgrades underpinned by a modular, all-QLC architecture, I believe Pure Storage sharpens its overall portfolio differentiation, especially across its infrastructure-focused Flash Array suite.

Of key importance, FlashBlade//S uses the Purity//FB 4.0 scale out storage software OS to uphold Pure’s portfolio development and strategy of building both its own hardware and software to assure customer’s experience the best of both worlds throughout their data storage implementations.

From my view, the new FlashBlade//S solution’s more than twofold advance over previous versions across density, performance, and power efficiency metrics fulfills customer top-priority solution selection criteria. These advances include:

• 105% capacity boost in TB per RU
• 48% power consumption reduction
• 28% decrease in cooling requirements
• 1.5 Watts per TB power consumption
• Stores almost 2PB of raw data in a single 5U chassis
• Eliminating overhead of managing off-the-shelf solid-state drives (SSDs)

To boost customer loyalty, FlashBlade//S also uses Evergreen//Forever packages consisting of all-inclusive software, blade upgrades, capacity consolidation, non-disruptive upgrades, trade-in credit on model upgrades and balanced renewal benefits. Additionally, Evergreen//One delivers as-a-service consumption options.

Due to the unpredictable character of expanding unstructured workloads, I see the demand for migrating away from inelastic, legacy platform and toward streamlined storage management as exploding. In its latest fiscal quarter earnings on June 1, Pure Storage reported that Q1 2023 revenue hit $620.4 million, up 50.3 percent from $412.7 million one year ago.

I believe the FlashBlade//S solution conforms Pure Storage’s organization-wide ability to make smart product moves that better serve the company’s customers, which is always a good strategy for growth and increased revenue. In May, the company unveiled a series of updates to its Portworx Data Services, including general availability of Portworx Data Services, the next generation of Portworx Enterprise, and the general availability of Portworx Backup-as-a-service. As enterprise architectures and customer requirements swiftly evolve, I anticipate Pure’s recent wave of high-profile innovations can expand its ecosystem influence by using modernized IT strategies that unleash data storage capabilities.

Disclosure: Futurum Research is a research and advisory firm that engages or has engaged in research, analysis, and advisory services with many technology companies, including those mentioned in this article. The author does not hold any equity positions with any company mentioned in this article.

Analysis and opinions expressed herein are specific to the analyst individually and data and other information that might have been provided for validation, not those of Futurum Research as a whole.

Other insights from Futurum Research:

Pure Storage Q1 2023 Revenue Rises to $620.4M, up 50.3% YoY

Pure Storage Expands Portworx Portfolio to Make Kubernetes More Rewarding for Developers

Dell Q1 2023 Revenue Up 16%, Topping Analyst Estimates

Image Credit: Pure Storage

The original version of this article was first published on Futurum Research.