Pure Storage FlashArray//X and FlashArray//XL Data Sheet

FlashArray//X moves beyond legacy SSD architectures that are architected to make flash pretend to be a hard disk. DirectFlash® within Purity speaks directly to raw NAND with a super-efficient NVMe protocol and leverages NVMe-oF over Fibre Channel or Ethernet for even faster network speeds between the array and application servers. You can implement DirectFlash using:

DirectFlash Software: Manages array I/O globally for a faster, more efficient architecture. DFS provides detailed I/O scheduling and performance management, making I/O performance deterministic and reducing average latency by decreasing the number of slow I/O operations that often occur in SSD architectures.

DirectFlash Module: A Pure-designed flash module that connects raw flash directly to the FlashArray storage via NVMe. Unlike traditional SSDs that use a flash controller or flash translation layer, DirectFlash Module is primarily raw flash. This design removes the performance roadblocks of SSDs used by many legacy storage architectures.

DirectFlash Module with DNVR (DFMD): Designed to boost write performance on the FlashArray//XL, DFMDs have distributed non-volatile RAM (DNVR) built into their DirectFlash Modules. Putting DNVR on each DFMD drive allows the FlashArray//XL configuration to offer a greater density of drive capacity in the array to reduce rack space requirements.

DirectMemory Modules and DirectMemory Cache: For the fastest possible response from databases, Pure DirectMemory with Intel Optane storage-class memory (SCM) delivers up to an additional 50% reduction in latency. DirectMemory Cache software automatically refers reads from the array’s flash media to onboard DirectMemory Modules. Boosting performance for apps like SAP HANA, Oracle, and SQL Server, as well as cloud-native databases, can be as simple as plugging DirectMemory Modules into your new or existing FlashArray//XL, //X90, or //X702 configuration.

DirectFlash Shelf: Lets you add additional NVMe capacity beyond the FlashArray chassis. DirectFlash Shelf connects to the FlashArray storage via NVMe-oF protocol and supports both Fibre Channel and RoCE (RDMA over converged Ethernet). The shelf maintains the ability to support different sizes of DirectFlash Modules as flash density improves and new forms become available, such as SCM, QLC, and others.

DirectFlash Fabric: Delivers performance close to DAS plus offers enterprise-class reliability and data services. NVMe-oF enables massive optimization between the storage controllers and host over fast networking. DirectFlash Fabric brings performance gains of up to 50% latency reduction compared to iSCSI, up to 50% greater transactions per second, 35% lower latency compared to DAS, and up to 20% latency reduction compared to Fibre Channel. At the same time, it offers up to 400% capacity efficiency and up to 25% host CPU offload.

Purity for FlashArray delivers rich, enterprise-level data services; DirectFlash global flash management; and Evergreen improvements with every release. Features such as ActiveCluster™ for business continuity, ActiveDR™ for disaster recovery, QoS, VMware Virtual Volumes (vVols), NVMe-oF, Snap to NFS, Purity CloudSnap™, and SafeMode™ are all examples of new features provided over time with non-disruptive, no-additional-cost Purity upgrades. All Purity storage services, APIs, and advanced data services are built-in and included with every array.

• Data reduction: Purity averages an industry-leading 5:1 data reduction with a total efficiency of 10:1 (including thin provisioning).
• Always-on encryption: Purity’s “encrypt everything” approach provides built-in enterprise-grade data security without user intervention or key management.
• High availability: Purity protects against concurrent dual-drive failures and initiates re-builds automatically within minutes. Purity also treats performance variability as a failure and uses parity to work around bottlenecks to deliver consistent latency.
• Always-on ransomware remediation: Cost-efficient, portable, SafeMode snapshots prevent cyber attackers from tampering with or maliciously destroying critical recovery data.
• Intelligent quality of service (QoS): Purity continuously tunes infrastructure using always-on QoS to prevent workloads from hogging resources and to ensure maximum utilization of the array.
• Faster, more consistent performance: Pure DirectFlash Fabric gives you maximum throughput with microsecond latency that’s far more predictable than with conventional SSDs.
• Unified storage with file services: If you run NAS-based apps in addition to SAN-based enterprise databases, Purity’s consolidated SAN and NAS capabilities let you avoid the trouble and expense of running two incompatible environments.
• On-demand data portability: Quickly and easily move data where they most cost-effectively meet service level agreements to satisfy your customers: between both physical and virtual machines, between on-premises and the cloud.

Purity//FlashArray Features³

Cloud-based management with Pure1®: The Pure1 data management platform provides a single view to monitor, analyze, and optimize your storage from anywhere in the world, and it delivers alerts directly to your phone. The Pure1 platform's artificial intelligence for IT operations (AIOps) and full-stack monitoring help prevent, identify, and resolve high-severity outages and other critical issues. Its Workload Planner can predict array capacity and performance as well as model existing and new workloads, while Pure1 makes it simple to purchase new or additional services directly from its user interface.

Pure Cloud Block Store™: Deliver consistent data services, resiliency, and APIs with Pure Cloud Block Store for AWS and Azure, with FlashArray, so you can run applications, enable disaster recovery, or perform test and development seamlessly across your on-premises and cloud environments. Make cloud storage better by leveraging Pure’s leading data efficient, instant space-saving snapshots, and always-on encryption, in the cloud. Pure Cloud Block Store provides greater agility, TCO, and enterprise reliability with its dual-controller architecture and high availability across availability zones and public clouds for mission-critical applications running in the cloud.

Evergreen Storage™: With Evergreen Storage, your FlashArray operates like SaaS and the cloud. Deploy it once, and then enjoy a subscription to continuous innovation as you expand and improve performance, capacity, density, and/or features for 10 years or more—all without downtime, performance impact, or data migrations. Pure has engineered compatibility for future technologies directly into the product via the modular, stateless architecture of FlashArray. The Pure Right Size Guarantee™ ensures that you start off knowing that you’ll have the effective capacity you need. With the Capacity Consolidation program, your storage stays modern and dense as you expand, without having to re-buy terabytes you already own. Pure uniquely offers all our core solutions either as products (CAPEX) or as services (OPEX⁴) via the Pure as-a-Service™ portfolio.