Pure Storage launches NVMe flash storage array

Pure Storage is doubling down on NVMe, a specification designed to speed up storage throughput, and offering a enterprise all-flash array with NVMe.

The array, dubbed FlashArray//X, includes Purity DirectFlash software and DirectFlash Modules. The aim of the technology is to ditch performance bottlenecks that prohibit raw flash from being used and optimized efficiently.

Matt Kixmoeller, vice president of product at Pure Storage, said the aim with FlashArray//X is to make NVMe more mainstream. "NVMe today is used with more expensive systems and niche plays," said Kixmoeller. "We want to democratize it."

Introducing NVMe: Goodbye SATA drives, hello blazing performance from SSDs on PCI | Facebook rolls out Bryce Canyon, its next-gen storage platform | Flash storage and the diseconomies of sharing | Storage in 2017: Big improvements are on the way | TechRepublic: New storage technologies allow for denser, faster data storage

Pure Storage is using a software defined approach to connect flash to the network. Kixmoeller said SSDs are growing in capacity, but suffering from bottlenecks that hamper efficiency.

Here's a look at what Pure Storage is trying to streamline.

The FlashArray//X is an expansion of the FlashArray product family and includes the following:

• DirectFlash Software, a module inside the Purity platform that uses global flash management at the system level. Typically this flash management software would run inside each SSD.
• DirectFlash Modules, which use DirectFlash Software to connect directly to raw flash. The modules make 100 percent of the flash in it accessible to the FlashArray.
• //X70 Controllers, which enable NVMe communication.

FlashArray//X with both 2.2 and 9.1 TB DirectFlash Modules are available to order with a release in the second quarter of Pure's fiscal 2018. General availability will be available in the second half.

Pure Storage's lineup looks like this as it aims to consolidate storage footprints.