During the Pure Accelerate 2025 event in Amsterdam, the vendor discussed developments within its portfolio and the market. Pure Storage is increasingly positioning itself as a supplier of a data platform that is not about infrastructure management, but about making optimal use of data.
The emphasis is on creating a uniform data layer where information is available everywhere and the underlying technology is largely invisible to the user.
According to Country Manager Netherlands, Dick Lans, the company’s focus is shifting from managing infrastructure to effectively using data. Consulting Systems Engineer Marco Bal adds that many organizations still work with separate storage environments, with data constantly being moved back and forth between systems. According to him, this makes it difficult to maintain consistency and hinders rapid decision-making. With its unified data plane, Pure Storage aims to break through this fragmentation with a single overarching layer that makes data accessible everywhere, regardless of its physical location.
Decoupling compute and storage
Bal explains that decoupling compute and storage is crucial in this regard. Separately managing computing power and storage creates a flexible platform that can be scaled or renewed independently. Lans observes that many organizations still work in silos, where each workload has its own infrastructure right down to the storage layer. He believes that virtualization and resource consolidation will make management more consistent, efficient, and less error-prone.
The growing application of AI reinforces this need. Bal notes that artificial intelligence wants access to all available data, and that this becomes impossible when information is scattered across countless silos. A uniform data layer not only prevents unnecessary data movement, but also speeds up the availability of information for analysis and AI modeling.
Unified data plane and intelligent control
According to Bal, the term unified storage is often used, but Pure Storage takes a broader approach. Whereas unified storage usually combines different protocols, such as block and file storage, the unified data plane goes further by integrating object data and multiple performance levels into a single management layer. This allows an organization to tailor storage to the specific requirements of a workload, whether that is maximum performance or cost optimization.
Automation is also playing an increasingly important role in management itself. To this end, Pure Storage integrates Copilot functionality that performs analyses and provides recommendations. Bal emphasizes that this represents a shift from reactive to proactive management. Instead of going through countless dashboards, administrators are presented with summarized insights and concrete actions.
Within the broader portfolio, the Enterprise Data Cloud (EDC) serves as the umbrella for this approach. Bal describes EDC as the combination of a unified data plane with an intelligent control plane. Instead of managing individual systems, organizations can work with predefined policies and templates. This allows workloads to be rolled out automatically and consistently, which he believes is particularly important in compliance-sensitive environments where deviations can have immediate consequences.
Data in the cloud and European sovereignty
The unified approach extends to the public cloud. Bal points out that Pure Storage’s technology is available in both Azure and AWS, via Cloud Block Store and now also via native services. This allows organizations to use the same data services, APIs, and management processes, whether they work in the cloud or on-premises. According to him, this consistency is the key to true multicloud integration, without requiring modifications to data or management logic.
At the same time, Pure Storage recognizes that the discussion about European data sovereignty is becoming increasingly important. Bal notes that many organizations are consciously thinking about where their data is stored and who has access to it. This is not only the case for governments but also for large commercial companies subject to European regulations.
Pure Storage does not provide a cloud environment itself and therefore maintains a distance from its customers’ data. Lans emphasizes that customers retain full ownership of their own systems and data, which is a fundamental difference from the approach taken by hyperscalers. In practice, this means that organizations can use cloud capacity without losing control or visibility of their data.
Collaboration with hyperscalers
The collaboration with hyperscalers gained extra weight this year with the design deal with Meta. According to Bal, this was an important recognition of Pure Storage’s technological maturity. Meta is implementing Pure’s DirectFlash technology in its own data centers. This is a striking choice, as hyperscalers usually design their own hardware.
The deal covers the hardware side of the infrastructure and ensures that DirectFlash Modules (DFMs) will be introduced into Meta’s large-scale environments. This gives the technology visibility and scale that extend beyond the traditional enterprise market.
Moving away from ‘disk thinking’
Although Pure Storage started as a software company, it quickly developed its own hardware to control flash memory more efficiently. Bal explains that conventional SSDs were initially designed in the era of the hard disk, and that this ‘disk logic’ has persisted for a long time. When flash was introduced, the spinning disk disappeared, but the operating method remained largely the same: systems continued to think and operate as if a physical disk were still present.
To break that pattern, Pure Storage decided to completely remove the translation layer that mimicked the old disk structure. This allows the software to communicate directly with the flash memory. This approach, which led to the development of DirectFlash Modules, enables determining where data is stored down to the cell level.
Evergreen as a foundation
The development of these modules is progressing rapidly. Within a few years, capacity has increased from 75 to 150 and now 300 terabytes, without any increase in power consumption or physical space.
Lans points out that Pure Storage’s technological choices directly translate into long-term customer relationships. He talks about a financial institution that has been running on the same system for twelve years. During that time, the system has grown from a few dozen terabytes to several petabytes. All this within the same rack space, with lower energy consumption.
According to Lans, this is possible thanks to the Evergreen architecture. This allows systems to continue running while upgrades are taking place. As a result, there is no downtime, which makes the solution particularly attractive for always-on environments such as hyperscalers, banks, and service providers.
Looking ahead
Bal emphasizes that software and hardware at Pure Storage remain inextricably linked. Smarter software enables better use of hardware, while hardware innovation drives software innovation. New controller generations ride along with the latest processor technologies. This increases performance without additional energy consumption.
Looking ahead, Bal expects the development of DirectFlash Modules to accelerate further. He also expects the Enterprise Data Cloud to automate even more tasks using AI Operations.