DataCore has grown enormously in recent years through a series of acquisitions and organic expansion. Where does the company and platform stand today? We spoke with CEO Dave Zabrowski and Director Solution Architect EMEA SE Said Boukhizou about the developments. Three core principles are currently central: freedom from infrastructure, protection of data, and preservation of digital assets.
In this case, freedom means that organizations do not have to depend on specific hardware, hypervisors, or cloud platforms. Zabrowski also describes this as “breaking down the walls,” something that, according to DataCore, is more relevant than ever. The battle against vendor lock-in, which has been particularly prevalent among companies since Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware, is an important starting point. Companies want to manage their data without being tied to a particular ecosystem or costly licensing arrangements for years on end.
In addition, protection is key. Systems must be resistant to cyberattacks, hardware failures, and human error to ensure business continuity. DataCore promises that intellectual property and business information will remain secure at all times, even when staff are temporarily unavailable, for example, on weekends or holidays.
Thirdly, DataCore recognizes that investments in infrastructure and data storage must be future-proof. Historical data, designs, and digital assets must remain accessible without every technological innovation leading to new costs. A good return on data investments, therefore, remains an essential goal for DataCore.
Every choice in product development and strategic direction is assessed against one of the three values above.
Increasing complexity in organizations
Many organizations struggle with recurring questions about availability, security, and flexibility. Is data always accessible? Is the infrastructure stable? Can regulations such as GDPR and NIS2 be complied with? And how flexible is the organization in switching between cloud, on-premises, and edge?
According to DataCore, the core of these challenges lies in the increasing complexity of modern IT environments. The shift from on-premises infrastructures to cloud and from virtual machines to containers has led to a multitude of technologies coexisting. However, that complexity doesn’t need to be the enemy of reliability. DataCore wants to help maintain stability while organizations continue to modernize.
In addition, more and more companies want to retain control over their data without constantly purchasing new hardware or licenses. DataCore’s promise is therefore clear: data must remain permanently available, regardless of the underlying technology or the era in which it finds itself.
From medieval walls to digital protection
Just before our conversations with Zabrowski and Boukhizou, DataCore compares its product to medieval walls in a presentation. Three-meter-thick walls of centuries-old buildings have protected human history for hundreds of years. DataCore used this as a metaphor for modern data protection. Whereas manuscripts were once safely stored behind stone walls, today’s information is vulnerable because it depends on servers, platforms, and complex infrastructures.
Zabrowski emphasizes that DataCore strives for data storage that remains available today, tomorrow, and, above all, for a long time to come. After all, data represents knowledge, documentation, and people. Losing it has direct consequences for organizations. This philosophy aligns with DataCore’s diverse customer base. From storage administrators and filmmakers to doctors and researchers, they rely on technology to secure critical information and keep it accessible.
Digital resilience as a necessity
The comparison with a centuries-old castle illustrates the transition from physical to digital protection. Whereas thick walls used to suffice for storing information, digital systems are now needed to prevent failures and data loss. Modern organizations produce more data every day than ever before, but a single cyberattack or technical failure can wipe it out in an instant. DataCore sees it as its mission to prevent companies from losing their digital memory.
The company positions itself as a guardian of data. In other words, a platform that helps organizations remain independent, protected, and future-proof. Time will tell how feasible this promise is, but the direction is clear. DataCore believes that data deserves eternal protection.
Growth through innovation and acquisition
To reinforce its vision, DataCore has expanded its portfolio with two strategic acquisitions (StarWind and Arcastream). There is also a new partner model that gives the American storage supplier’s partners more opportunities to help companies with issues related to unified storage, cyber resilience, and AI workloads.
Unified storage, which combines block, file, and object storage on a single platform, is increasingly becoming the market standard. Cyber resilience is also a necessity, as customers demand greater freedom to run software on commodity hardware and to move data flexibly between on-premises and cloud environments.
At the same time, IT budgets are under pressure due to economic uncertainty and geopolitical tensions. Organizations are looking for ways to reduce costs without sacrificing functionality. In addition, applications are increasingly tailored to specific sectors, such as media, industry, and healthcare. DataCore sees these trends as a reason to review its portfolio and better align it with current market needs.
Arcastream opens the door to HPC and AI
The first acquisition of this year, Arcastream, is a parallel file system for HPC and AI workloads. The technology runs on standard hardware and currently works primarily with Dell, but can easily be extended to other suppliers. Arcastream offers customers freedom from data lock-in: the file system makes data accessible regardless of the underlying infrastructure. This is a major advantage for companies that want to modernize their environment without becoming dependent on a single vendor.
High-performance computing and AI required a new tool within the Software-Defined Storage (SDS) offering. Performance, scalability, and data accessibility are crucial for this type of workload.
Tip: DataCore strengthens its position in file storage through the acquisition of Arcastream
StarWind brings resilience to the edge
Later this year, StarWind also joined the fold. This company focuses on Hyper-Converged Infrastructure (HCI) for edge environments, small and medium-sized businesses, and remote office/branch office (ROBO) applications. According to Zabrowski, the acquisition of StarWind completes the DataCore.NEXT vision that has been in the works since 2018. The vision focuses on bridging the gap between the core (on-premises), cloud, and edge.
StarWind integrates compute and storage into a single solution, enabling partners to offer customers a complete infrastructure that is easy to implement and manage. The technology offers enterprise-grade reliability and high availability, even at the network edge. Proactive support ensures that potential problems are resolved before they impact the production environment.
StarWind also aligns with the philosophy we started this article with: freedom in choosing hardware and a hypervisor. DataCore’s SANsymphony was already capable of handling HCI configurations, especially in enterprise data centers. StarWind brings similar resilience to edge environments and remote offices.
Puls8 brings protection to containers
In addition to these acquisitions, Puls8 has recently become visible within the DataCore portfolio. This is not actually an entirely new technology, but a rebranding of what was previously called Bolt. Boukhizou explains that the choice of the new name is intended to make it more straightforward that the solution is designed for Kubernetes, also known as K8s for short.
This solution focuses on enterprise resilience for cloud-native workloads and offers Kubernetes environments the same protection as traditional virtualization. Puls8 builds on OpenEBS, the open-source project linked to Bolt and now to Puls8, adding replication, snapshots, and other advanced functionality.
More and more organizations are moving from virtualization to containerization. This is driving the need for persistent storage that is reliable, scalable, and easy to manage. Puls8 provides that bridge and aligns with DataCore’s vision of sustainable data protection.
Portfolio grows with businesses
With its various solutions, DataCore has built a portfolio that supports a wide range of use cases. SANsymphony remains the core for block storage in virtualization environments, Swarm provides object storage, StarWind serves the edge, Nexus (the new name for Arcatream) focuses on HPC and AI, and Puls8 offers persistent storage for containers.
Although the technologies differ from each other, the underlying idea is the same. DataCore does not want to sell separate products, but complete solutions that help organizations ensure their continuity, modernize their infrastructure, and protect their data against loss or obsolescence.