All-flash arrays
All-flash arrays are rapidly chasing hard disk drive storage out of the data center for primary storage. This topic page includes the latest news, tips and special reports for all-flash arrays. Explore the use cases, architectures, solid-state drive (SSD) and NVMe technologies, vendors and all-flash array products in the modern data center.
Top Stories
-
Tip
19 Jun 2023
Charge trap technology advantages for 3D NAND flash drives
Flash drive cells based on charge trap technology have several advantages over older floating gate cells. However, take note of potential reliability issues. Continue Reading
-
Tip
07 Jun 2023
Evaluate flash memory advantages and disadvantages
Flash memory and solid-state devices have revolutionized storage, but to deploy them effectively, you must understand their advantages and disadvantages. Continue Reading
-
Definition
13 Feb 2024
disk array
A disk array, also called a storage array, is a data storage system used for block-based storage, file-based storage or object storage. Continue Reading
-
Definition
07 Dec 2023
HDD form factor (hard disk drive form factor)
HDD form factor (hard disk drive form factor) is the size or geometry of a data storage device equipped with one or more magnetic-coated spinning platters and one or more moving actuator arms with magnetic heads to read and write information. Continue Reading
-
Tip
19 Jun 2023
Charge trap technology advantages for 3D NAND flash drives
Flash drive cells based on charge trap technology have several advantages over older floating gate cells. However, take note of potential reliability issues. Continue Reading
-
Tip
07 Jun 2023
Evaluate flash memory advantages and disadvantages
Flash memory and solid-state devices have revolutionized storage, but to deploy them effectively, you must understand their advantages and disadvantages. Continue Reading
-
Definition
02 Mar 2023
byte
In most computer systems, a byte is a unit of data that is eight binary digits long. Continue Reading
-
Definition
28 Nov 2022
Kilo, mega, giga, tera, peta, exa, zetta and all that
Kilo, mega, giga, tera, peta, exa and zetta are among the binary prefixes used to denote the quantity of something, such as a byte or bit in computing and telecommunications. Continue Reading
-
News
16 Dec 2021
NetApp AFF A900 brings more performance to same chassis
NetApp AFF A900 adds higher efficiency, additional OnTap features and optional anti-ransomware software to the flagship array. There's also an upgrade option for A700 users. Continue Reading
-
News
07 Dec 2021
Pure Storage launches highest performing FlashArray//XL
Pure Storage releases FlashArray//XL, its highest performance array that completes the puzzle for on-prem customer storage. Continue Reading
-
Definition
12 Nov 2021
storage medium (storage media)
In computers, a storage medium is a physical device that receives and retains electronic data for applications and users and makes the data available for retrieval. Continue Reading
-
Definition
26 Oct 2021
Terabyte (TB)
A terabyte (TB) is a unit of digital data that is equal to about 1 trillion bytes. Continue Reading
-
News
21 Oct 2021
Tintri expands VMstore T7000 line for better configurability
Tintri expanded its all-NVMe VMstore T7000 line with two new appliances, supporting various use cases and configurability. Continue Reading
-
Definition
21 Oct 2021
gigabyte (GB)
A gigabyte (GB) -- pronounced with two hard Gs -- is a unit of data storage capacity that is roughly equivalent to 1 billion bytes. Continue Reading
-
Feature
30 Jul 2021
New HPE Alletra extends cloud console to Primera, Nimble
Hewlett Packard Enterprise's new Alletra storage brand will bear striking similarity to Primera and Nimble arrays on the operating system and management front. Continue Reading
-
News
23 Jul 2021
Pure Storage adds service options for FlashStack, Portworx
Pure Storage users can now choose consumption-based pricing for FlashStack converged infrastructure and Portworx storage for containerized workloads. Continue Reading
-
News
20 Jul 2021
IBM FlashSystem adds storage as a service, attack protection
IBM introduces new consumption-based Storage as a Service for FlashSystem based on performance, capacity and contract term; and adds Safeguarded Copy to guard against cyberattacks. Continue Reading
-
News
17 Jun 2021
Infinidat expands beyond HDDs with new all-solid-state array
Infinidat's new all-solid-state InfiniBox SSA storage array is built on the same deep-learning software and DRAM cache technology that its flagship disk-based InfiniBox models use. Continue Reading
-
Feature
25 May 2021
Pure Storage CEO zones in on enabling digital transformation
Pure Storage's CEO said the company will probably pursue acquisitions beyond its 2020 Portworx purchase to further assist customers in their digital transformation efforts. Continue Reading
-
News
13 May 2021
Pure Storage updates management tool, integrates Portworx
Pure launched its first Portworx container storage update since acquiring the startup last year and enabled management through its newly updated Pure1 management tool. Continue Reading
-
News
11 May 2021
Dell EMC PowerScale adds all-NVMe, Nvidia GPUDirect options
A Dell EMC PowerScale update adds a high-end all-NVMe F900 model with Nvidia GPUDirect support for AI and analytics workloads plus a OneFS 9.2 upgrade to improve performance. Continue Reading
-
News
04 May 2021
HPE storage hones cloud focus with new array, data console
HPE has sharpened its cloudlike operations approach with a new Alletra storage array, management console and cloud data services available by consumption and subscription options. Continue Reading
-
News
20 Apr 2021
Dell EMC speeds up PowerStore array, debuts lower-cost model
Dell Technologies launches new lower-cost PowerStore entry model and PowerStore software updates to enhance performance, automation, NVMe over Fibre Channel and Optane support. Continue Reading
-
News
06 Apr 2021
New Vast Data Gemini selling model offers better economics
Vast Data now allows customers to buy integrated appliances on hardware with the capacity and performance levels of their choice, with full transparency on the hardware costs. Continue Reading
-
News
30 Mar 2021
Pure Storage combines FlashBlade with Portworx PX-Backup
Pure Storage's joint product with Portworx gives customers a way to quickly recover container applications in case of failures by combining flash storage and PX-Backup. Continue Reading
-
News
30 Mar 2021
Fungible computational storage eyes composable use cases
Fungible's computational storage anchors a new offering for composable infrastructure. The Fungible Data Center license allows IT teams to consume resources on demand. Continue Reading
-
News
24 Mar 2021
Pure Storage FlashBlade anchors B2B marketer's Azure cloud
Digital marketing specialist MultiView deployed a physical Pure Storage FlashBlade for production data, with the ability to consume all-flash storage as a virtual array in Azure. Continue Reading
-
News
03 Mar 2021
Pure Storage cloud deployments include dedicated bare metal
Pure Storage on Equinix Metal allows customers to build a Pure Storage cloud on dedicated all-flash tenants. Equinix is rolling it out in 18 U.S. and international markets. Continue Reading
-
News
18 Feb 2021
Violin, Stratoscale data storage technologies rise from dust
StorCentric's data storage technologies added Violin Systems in a bargain pickup last year. Zadara this week snagged the remnants of Stratoscale's HCI software. Continue Reading
-
News
18 Feb 2021
Komprise launches replication for FlashArray File Services
Komprise Asynchronous Replication enables file-based replication for more granular restores in backup and DR use cases. It is first available on Pure FlashArray File Services. Continue Reading
-
News
16 Feb 2021
Pure Storage nudges all-flash toward hybrid workloads
Pure Storage all-flash revolves around unified fast file and object storage to consolidate local and cloud-based application data on a single high-performance flash platform. Continue Reading
-
Feature
14 Feb 2021
The best enterprise storage arrays of 2020
Vast Data, Dell EMC and Infinidat show that flash storage rules the data center in the 'Storage' magazine and SearchStorage Products of the Year 2020 disk and disk subsystems category. Continue Reading
-
News
09 Feb 2021
IBM flash storage seeks wider appeal with FlashSystem array
New IBM flash storage includes 1U FlashSystem building block starting at 38 TB. The launch comes as IBM consolidates storage products around its FlashSystem flagship. Continue Reading
-
News
29 Jan 2021
QLC flash drives are hot '21 trend, pressure HDDs on price
Hot 2021 trends in memory and storage will include the ramp of QLC SSDs in enterprise flash arrays, pressuring HDDs on price, increasing Optane adoption and NVMe over TCP. Continue Reading
-
News
25 Jan 2021
Vast Data storage packages Nvidia GPU for AI processing
Vast Data storage reference architecture combines the vendor's Universal Storage all-flash system with Nvidia DGX supercomputers. NFS multipathing over RDMA boosts AI data training. Continue Reading
-
News
06 Jan 2021
Enterprise data storage startups to watch in 2021
Launching a data storage startup is always challenging, and the pandemic made it even tougher in 2020. Here are six startups that can change the way enterprises buy storage. Continue Reading
-
News
17 Dec 2020
Veeam acquisition, Google-Actifio highlight 2020 storage M&A
Data protection vendors Veeam, Actifio and Datrium were acquisition targets in 2020; Google and VMware opened their wallets; and Intel sold its memory business -- but kept Optane. Continue Reading
-
News
17 Dec 2020
Wholesaler rings up Christmas sales with HPE Nimble Storage
National Tree Company remedied sluggish performance with an HPE Nimble Storage dHCI converged all-flash system, boosting order processing and sales in time for the holidays. Continue Reading
-
News
09 Dec 2020
Hitachi takes its NVMe flash storage into midrange
Hitachi storage for E Series adds two midrange block arrays based on NVMe flash technology. E590 and E790 scale to 360 TB and differ in processing performance. Continue Reading
-
News
04 Dec 2020
Lenovo storage expands NVMe with midrange DM ThinkSystem
Server vendor Lenovo wants to grow its ThinkSystem storage business. The DM5100F NVMe Lenovo storage array integrates S3 protocol for unified data management. Continue Reading
-
News
02 Dec 2020
All-flash array adoption rises for NetApp, HPE
NetApp credits AFA flash array sales as key to its gaining market share, while HPE reports significant flash increase despite overall decline in storage revenue. Continue Reading
-
Quiz
30 Nov 2020
Test your knowledge of object storage usage in the enterprise
Do you know when and where to use object storage? Take our quiz to see which workloads it's best for and insight into how object storage fits into the overall storage picture. Continue Reading
-
News
25 Nov 2020
Dell still waiting for PowerStore to power up
Dell EMC's flashy new PowerStore array has done little to remediate the leading storage vendor's shrinking midrange market share, allowing competitors to gain ground. Continue Reading
-
News
25 Nov 2020
Pure Storage cloud licensing buoys vendor's fortunes
Pure Storage cloud revenue grew by double digits last quarter. A new service catalog guides customers to categorize workloads for predictable performance and pricing. Continue Reading
-
News
18 Nov 2020
COVID-19 research generates big data, invaluable info
When supporting COVID-19 research that could uncover treatment for the pandemic, IT and storage pros want to make sure they're 'not the bottleneck' in the process. Continue Reading
-
Feature
18 Nov 2020
All-flash object storage makes its way into the enterprise
Object storage isn't just for backups and archives anymore. All-flash offerings are being used for AI, machine learning and analytics. See what types of products are available. Continue Reading
-
News
30 Oct 2020
StorCentric buys flash storage pioneer Violin to fill gap
StorCentric's storage portfolio added an NVMe-based midrange option to its Nexsan and Vexata lines with the acquisition of beleaguered all-flash array pioneer Violin Systems. Continue Reading
-
Feature
06 Oct 2020
NVMe and SCM: Implications for the future of storage
Explore the various ways NVMe technology vendors are preparing the way for organizations to transition to storage class memory in their computing environments. Continue Reading
-
News
06 Oct 2020
StorOne storage system flexes data protection muscles
StorOne enhances its All-Flash Array.next storage system based on Intel Optane and QLC NAND drives with data protection features for disaster recovery. Continue Reading
-
News
30 Sep 2020
Dell EMC, Pure embrace VMware storage innovations
VMware Site Recovery Manager for Virtual Volumes lets customers replicate VMs with Dell EMC PowerMax snapshots. VMware storage management includes Tanzu for Kubernetes clusters. Continue Reading
-
News
24 Sep 2020
All-flash Vast Data storage trains AI data at LightSpeed
Vast Data LightSpeed combines bulk QLC SSD storage with Intel Optane acceleration. The system supports Nvidia beta technology allowing writes from storage to GPU. Continue Reading
-
News
17 Sep 2020
Rivals Cloudian, Scality embrace all-flash object storage
Primarily used as a disk repository, object storage use cases are evolving to support workloads that need fast flash. Rivals Cloudian and Scality provide the latest evidence. Continue Reading
-
News
16 Sep 2020
Pure Storage acquires Portworx for container management
Pure Storage container support includes the Pure Service Orchestrator. Portworx will operate as a new Pure Cloud Native business unit focused on storage for cloud apps. Continue Reading
-
News
11 Sep 2020
Kaminario storage dons Silk, vows smooth cloud migrations
Here is the story behind why Kaminario changed its name to Silk and launched the Silk Cloud Data Platform that builds on Kaminario storage stack and runs in Google cloud. Continue Reading
-
Feature
03 Sep 2020
Law firm makes compelling case for Pure Storage all-flash
CSK Legal first used Pure Storage all-flash arrays to move VMs to VMware vSphere. Primary Pure FlashArray replicates VMs to second target used exclusively for backups. Continue Reading
-
News
27 Aug 2020
Layoffs put damper on positive NetApp storage earnings
NetApp storage growth was modest last quarter, despite the pandemic, but not sufficient to forestall layoffs. The cuts include engineers and sales professionals at SolidFire. Continue Reading
-
News
26 Aug 2020
Cohesity gives DataPlatform an I/O Boost for flash storage
As enterprises demand faster backup and recovery, Cohesity adds software advances to DataPlatform that enable it to work better with all-flash appliances from Cisco and HPE. Continue Reading
-
News
26 Aug 2020
Pure Storage FlashArray//C set sights on hybrid flash market
Pure Storage FlashArray//C incorporates QLC NAND-based SSDs in the vendor's DirectFlash modules. The arrays are positioned as an alternative to hybrid flash for backup and DR. Continue Reading
-
News
13 Aug 2020
Pure Storage, Cohesity combine on all-flash backup appliance
Pure Storage's new FlashRecover appliance combines its FlashBlade hardware with Cohesity DataProtect backup software in response to customers' needs for faster restores. Continue Reading
-
News
11 Aug 2020
IBM storage GM Walsh leaves Big Blue for startup ChaosSearch
IBM recruited Ed Walsh in 2016 to revive its flagging storage division. Analysts credit Walsh for prioritizing all-flash and cloud data services. Now he’s heading to ChaosSearch. Continue Reading
-
News
16 Jul 2020
Catalogic copy data management supports HPE Nimble Storage
Catalogic is reacting to market appetite for putting copy data management on primary storage. Flash customers want to get more out of their arrays, and the hardware can handle it. Continue Reading
-
News
15 Jul 2020
Hitachi Content Platform integrates WekaIO file storage
Hitachi Content Platform G-11 object storage nodes get refreshed with startup WekaIO's parallel file system. The WekaFS is optimized for Hitachi VSP all-flash arrays. Continue Reading
-
News
02 Jul 2020
Pure Storage CEO back after COVID-19 battle
Pure Storage CEO Charles Giancarlo said it took him a month to recover from an extended bout with coronavirus. Meanwhile, Pure's revenue grew by 12% last quarter despite the pandemic. Continue Reading
-
News
15 Jun 2020
HPE goes NVMe storage for Primera, SCM on Nimble
Hewlett Packard Enterprise automates storage optimizations for HPE Primera SANs. Customers now may replicate HPE storage snapshots to a third Nimble Storage array or the cloud. Continue Reading
-
News
11 Jun 2020
Pure Storage FlashArray gets file support, meatier DR
Pure Storage Purity FA 6.0 OS continuously replicates production data between FlashArray nodes. Pure FlashArray File services allow file and block storage to share flash. Continue Reading
-
News
01 Jun 2020
5 ways COVID-19 changed the data storage market
The global pandemic accelerated some shifts in the data storage market and brought about new trends that storage CEOs predict will stick around for the long term. Continue Reading
-
Feature
26 May 2020
How 6 new midrange storage arrays from top vendors stack up
Leading storage vendors have recently released midrange all-flash arrays that provide the scalability, high performance and high reliability of enterprise-class offerings. Continue Reading
-
News
26 May 2020
Nimbus, StorOne try to disrupt enterprise storage pricing
Enterprise storage pricing is often shrouded in mystery, but Nimbus Data and StorOne are attempting to shake up the status quo with new tools that give buyers discounted prices on the spot. Continue Reading
-
News
13 May 2020
Nimbus Data shows off flashy OS upgrades with ExaFlash One
Customers can size and order Nimbus Data ExaFlash One arrays online for flat $10,000 one-time cost. Nimbus Tectonic license costs $10,000 annually and includes controller upgrades and all software licenses. Continue Reading
-
News
12 May 2020
Replication highlights Pure Storage FlashBlade OS update
Pure Storage Purity v3 adds snapshots for file and object data between FlashBlade arrays and Amazon S3 buckets. Replication matches functionality in Pure FlashArray block storage. Continue Reading
-
Feature
11 May 2020
Flash vendors tap admin experience features to stand out
Customers evaluating storage platforms are looking for a little something extra from vendors -- and it isn't necessarily the latest flash development. Continue Reading
-
News
05 May 2020
Long-delayed Dell EMC PowerStore midrange array makes debut
All-NVMe PowerStore array supports any workloads across any environment. It is the vendor's first jointly engineered product since the Dell and EMC merger. Continue Reading
-
News
30 Apr 2020
Vast Data flash storage zeroes in on enterprises
Vast Data engineers improve storage services for cloud backup and encryption as the all-flash startup moves to target mainstream Windows and MacOS shops. Continue Reading
-
News
17 Apr 2020
Vast Data wows investors with 'flash everywhere' design
In the throes of economic uncertainty caused by a global pandemic, investors pour $100 million into startup that sells a million-dollar storage system, Vast Data Universal Storage. Continue Reading
-
News
06 Apr 2020
Lenovo flash storage, Microsoft Azure eye mad rush to edge
New Lenovo ThinkAgile MX and Lenovo storage arrays target Microsoft cloud customers. Azure Stack HCI configuration mirrors qualified designs for VMware, Nutanix. Continue Reading
-
Feature
02 Apr 2020
The future of flash memory promises unprecedented speed, capacity
NAND flash's future involves more layers and bits per cell. At the same time, NVMe-oF, storage class memory and other new technologies will fundamentally change memory and storage. Continue Reading
-
News
31 Mar 2020
Dell Tech World 2020 placed on hold until October
Dell Tech World 2020 rescheduled to October, as Dell and VMware withdraw FY2021 guidance. Dell joins a growing list of tech vendors to shuffle user events in the wake of the coronavirus. Continue Reading
-
Feature
25 Mar 2020
A history of flash memory and its rise in the enterprise
Flash memory plays a huge role in enterprise storage. However, 16 years ago, SSDs barely existed. Find out the story behind this technology and how it came to dominate storage. Continue Reading
-
Infographic
23 Mar 2020
How SSD endurance affects flash memory use
SSD durability is a key factor in the lifespan of storage devices. Learn how it's measured, how it's evolving, what the best endurance levels are for different workloads and more. Continue Reading
-
News
04 Mar 2020
Pure Storage layoffs signal turbulence in IT market
Layoffs at Pure Storage dampen the flash array vendor's better-than-expected quarterly revenue. Pure is the latest tech vendor to eliminate jobs amid fears of a global slowdown. Continue Reading
-
News
03 Mar 2020
Dell EMC midrange storage launch put on hold
Dell COO Jeff Clarke says he's to blame for delays in shipping the Dell EMC midrange storage array, claiming he pushed the launch so the vendor's sales force can get up to speed. Continue Reading
-
News
28 Feb 2020
Pure Storage FlashArray//X goes pure NVMe
The third generation of Pure FlashArray//X includes a new 1 TB capacity DirectFlash module. Pure said the rollout completes its integration of NVMe flash on all arrays. Continue Reading
-
Feature
17 Feb 2020
Top 2019 enterprise storage arrays win Products of the Year
Winners of the 2019 Products of the Year signal a shift from disk to flash storage arrays. Vast Data takes gold, NGD Systems wins silver and DataDirect Networks captures bronze. Continue Reading
-
News
10 Feb 2020
Speed is 2020 theme in NVMe flash storage, persistent memory
Top technologists and analysts predict 2020 storage hardware trends will center on NVMe-based flash, Optane persistent memory and MRAM memory. Continue Reading
-
Feature
28 Jan 2020
Products using Intel Optane SSDs and memory debuted in 2019
Is your organization ready for storage class memory? See some of the Optane-based products vendors developed and launched last year that incorporated the technology. Continue Reading
-
News
26 Dec 2019
Enterprise flash adoption poised for new uses, experts say
Enterprise flash memory technologies are evolving with NVMe fabrics, QLC drives and storage class memory. The new options will enable data centers to expand flash use cases. Continue Reading
-
News
25 Nov 2019
Pure Storage cloud sales surge, but earnings miss the target
Although its pedigree is all-flash storage hardware, Pure Storage cloud products and services are a strong growth engine. But the vendor said global demand is starting to slacken. Continue Reading
-
News
15 Nov 2019
NetApp storage systems growth hinges on cloud transition
NetApp's decision to aggressively market storage systems for building hybrid and multi-clouds is put to the test in the face of declining sales in 2019. Continue Reading
-
News
13 Nov 2019
DreamWorks animates its cloud with NetApp Data Fabric
The 'virtual studio' DreamWorks cloud relies on various components of NetApp Data Fabric, including All Flash FAS storage, NetApp HCI and OnTap cloud-based data management. Continue Reading
-
Conference Coverage
01 Nov 2019
NetApp Insight 2019 Las Vegas: Conference highlights and updates
At last year's event, NetApp made it clear that a cloud push wasn't going to eliminate on-premises options. Where does the legacy vendor stand in 2019? Continue Reading
-
News
29 Oct 2019
NetApp Keystone cements file vendor's hybrid cloud fabric
NetApp Keystone allows customers to choose a service level and type of storage. NetApp then uses its analytics to tailor storage to meet performance and capacity needs. Continue Reading
-
News
24 Oct 2019
New NVMe IBM storage for Spectrum Scale cuts install time
IBM introduces new NVMe-based flash storage system bundled with Spectrum Scale, enables Spectrum Discover to access backup date, and updates pay-as-you-grow pricing. Continue Reading
-
News
24 Oct 2019
New Dell infrastructure chief talks midrange, HCI, VMware
EMC veteran Jeff Boudreau takes control of Dell Infrastructure Solutions Group, with plans to 'out-innovate' hyper-converged and software-defined storage competitors. Continue Reading
-
Feature
10 Oct 2019
New Violin Systems CEO talks up ambitious storage roadmap
New Violin CEO talks up plans for newly architected, NVMe-based flash array that will focus on enterprise software capabilities such as low RPO and deduplication. Continue Reading
-
News
09 Oct 2019
Hitachi storage refocuses on enterprise with new VSP array
Large commercial consumers have been the primary target for Hitachi storage systems of late, but new Hitachi Vantara VSP 5000 targets Dell EMC PowerMax enterprise storage. Continue Reading
-
News
03 Oct 2019
Violin Systems changes CEOs, cuts staff, closes San Jose HQ
Pioneering all-flash array vendor Violin changes CEOs and eliminates San Jose headquarters and executive staff to cut spending, but plans new NVMe-based storage products in 2020. Continue Reading
-
News
02 Oct 2019
Pure Storage all-flash customers wade slowly into cloud
Major enterprise customers say Pure Storage all-flash storage arrays have matured to automate cloud-based application development. Other Pure users take a more cautious approach. Continue Reading
-
News
30 Sep 2019
HPE Primera arrays set sights on Dell EMC PowerMax SANs
The vendor said HPE Primera is being shipped this week to BlueShore Financial. HPE looks to Primera to jolt revenues and take share in high-end storage. Continue Reading
-
Feature
25 Sep 2019
NVMe-oF products are changing the face of data storage
NVMe-oF products are rapidly maturing, and NVMe-oF devices are now suitable for production workloads. Let's look at the hardware, software and supported systems hitting the market. Continue Reading
-
News
24 Sep 2019
DDN storage expands, buys Western Digital's IntelliFlash
Western Digital makes an abrupt exit from the storage systems business, while DataDirect Networks continues its storage portfolio growth with IntelliFlash platform. Continue Reading
-
News
20 Sep 2019
Data protection customers turn to Pure Storage FlashBlade
Pure Storage created the FlashBlade all-flash NAS mainly for dense unstructured workloads, but customers like Domino's Pizza and ServiceNow are among Pure customers that use it as a backup target. Continue Reading
-
News
18 Sep 2019
Pure Storage analytics, cloud move to forefront
All-flash vendor Pure Storage moves to bolster its software and cloud features with upgraded analytics, block storage in AWS and a Data Hub for AI workflows. Continue Reading