Pure Storage recently announced several AI and security upgrades designed to simplify the management and protection of both individual and multiple storage arrays.
According to Prakash Darji, vice president and general manager of Pure Storage’s Digital Experience unit, the company is emphasizing three main areas with these new enhancements.
The first area is the introduction of the next-generation Pure Fusion hybrid storage cloud operating model and an AI copilot. The second includes upgrades to their Evergreen//One storage-as-a-service subscription model, offering greater flexibility. The third focus is on assisting businesses in transitioning from traditional workloads to AI workloads and boosting cyber resilience.
Moving in the right direction
Pure Storage’s integration of AI into its security and ransomware protection is a smart move because customers are willing to invest in security and AI these days, even if it hits them in the pocketbook. They know it will give them the leg up and competitive advantage that will set them apart in the marketplace.
“It’s interesting to see another vendor recognize that security is crucial when deploying any advanced AI project or product,” said Michael Slater, senior director for Microsoft and cybersecurity sales at Sherweb. “There are significant security risks involved, as I’ve learned from implementing Microsoft Copilot for our clients through our partners. This experience has shown that cybersecurity forms the foundation of any AI interaction. This development is yet another example of vendors using AI to enhance their products, reducing the need for extensive troubleshooting.”
Matt Wren, vice president of growth at Moser Consulting, doubles down on this sentiment, highlighting that AI and security enhancements must go hand in hand.
“To implement AI effectively, it’s crucial to have strong security measures in place,” confirmed Wren. “While it’s great to see so many people and companies embracing AI due to its popularity, they must also take the necessary steps to secure their systems properly. It’s not just about following a trend; it’s about integrating AI safely and responsibly.”
New features rolled out
Pure Storage has rolled out several new features to boost its platform, including:
- First-of-its-kind storage automation: Pure Fusion now brings together arrays and dynamically optimizes storage pools for both structured and unstructured data, whether it’s on-premises or in the cloud. Integrated into the Purity operating environment, which continuously improves through non-disruptive upgrades, Pure Fusion is now available across the entire Pure Storage platform.
- Generative AI copilot for storage: Pure’s AI copilot makes data management and protection simpler using natural language. Drawing on insights from tens of thousands of Pure Storage customers, it helps storage teams tackle complex performance issues and prevent security incidents. Pure’s copilot is secure, operating solely with data from a customer’s Pure data estate.
Accelerating enterprise AI success
A recent survey by Pure Storage made up of 1,500 global CIOs and decision-makers found that 98% believe their data infrastructure needs significant improvement to support AI initiatives. The breakneck pace at which AI is evolving is outpacing IT’s ability to keep up, with many companies held back by rigid, unreliable, and non-scalable storage architectures.
To address these issues, Pure Storage has launched new platform innovations to help businesses speed up AI deployment and future-proof their infrastructure:
- Evergreen//One for AI: This is the first AI Storage-as-a-Service designed for GPU performance, making sure training, inference, and HPC workloads run smoothly. It offers flexible subscriptions based on need, letting the user pay only for the performance they use and maximizing GPU efficiency.
- Future-proof NVIDIA AI Performance: By the end of the year, Pure Storage will be certified for NVIDIA DGX SuperPOD, along with its existing DGX BasePOD and OVX certifications. This makes it easier for businesses to integrate large-scale AI training and inference.
- Secure Application Workspaces: Pure Storage streamlines data integration between your enterprise data and AI clusters with Kubernetes, secure multi-tenancy, and policy governance tools. This gives you automated access to AI innovations while keeping your data secure and maintaining control.
As businesses dive deeper into AI technologies and capabilities, Pure Storage stands out for its focus on strengthening data security and simplifying management. This will be key as partners and customers move into the multi-cloud space.
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