Pure Storage Unveils Scalable High-Performance Storage Solution FlashBlade//EXA

Pure Storage has launched the FlashBlade//EXA, a cutting-edge all-in-one storage system aimed at addressing the unique demands of artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) applications. This innovative system is designed for nearly unlimited scalability, allowing for extensive clustering of controller nodes to form a metadata core that communicates with HPC or AI clusters via NFSv4.1 over TCP.

The metadata core is engineered for high parallelism and the processing of vast amounts of metadata operations. It connects to data nodes through a control panel, with each data node capable of housing 24 Direct Flash Modules (DFMs) that offer storage capacities of either 75 or 150 terabytes, totaling up to 1.8 or 3.6 petabytes. Furthermore, the system allows for the integration of an almost unlimited number of third-party data nodes, all manageable through Pure Storage's proprietary operating system, Purity.

In terms of performance, the FlashBlade//EXA promises reading speeds exceeding 10 terabytes per second within a single namespace, contingent upon a configuration of three fully populated racks, with a performance density rated at 3.4 terabytes per rack. The system also supports high-performance Nvidia hardware, including Mellanox ConnectX network interface cards, Spectrum switches, and LinkX cables, while Accelerated Communications Libraries enhance inter-node communication.

AI and HPC applications present different requirements for storage systems compared to traditional enterprise applications, emphasizing the need for parallel read and write access, high metadata performance, minimal latencies, asynchronous checkpointing, and high throughput. With the FlashBlade//EXA, Pure Storage aims to cater to both conventional HPC tasks and modern AI training and inference workloads.

This latest offering underscores Pure Storage's commitment to innovation in the storage sector, ensuring that organizations can effectively harness the power of AI and HPC technologies.