Pure Storage , a leader in advanced data storage solutions, has announced the launch of its new GenAI Pod, a full-stack solution designed to streamline the deployment of generative AI (GenAI) projects. The GenAI Pod is set to help businesses reduce the time, cost, and technical expertise typically required for AI innovation. Alongside this launch, Pure Storage also revealed that its FlashBlade//S500 has been certified with NVIDIA DGX SuperPOD to meet the growing demands of AI data centre needs.
Turnkey AI solutions to simplify deployments
Organisations face several challenges when adopting GenAI, particularly when trying to deploy hardware, software, and development tools in a timely and cost-efficient manner. Many also struggle with navigating the complexity of managing and integrating these components into existing systems. The Pure Storage GenAI Pod offers a solution to these difficulties by providing a validated, turnkey platform that can accelerate the deployment of AI-powered initiatives.
Built on the Pure Storage platform, the GenAI Pod includes full-stack designs that support AI workloads, enabling one-click deployment and streamlined Day 2 operations. This allows businesses to quickly set up and manage their AI systems, especially in areas such as vector databases and foundational models. The GenAI Pod also integrates Portworx to automate deployments of NVIDIA NeMo and NIM microservices through the NVIDIA AI Enterprise software platform, along with the Milvus vector database. This combination reduces the complexity of setting up and maintaining AI systems.
Initial industry applications for the Pure Storage GenAI Pod include sectors such as drug discovery, trade research, investment analysis, and the development of retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) solutions for semantic search, knowledge management, and chatbot systems. The partnership with Arista, Cisco, KX, Meta, NVIDIA, Red Hat, SuperMicro, and WWT brings together top-tier hardware, software, and services to provide a complete solution. The Pure Storage GenAI Pod is expected to be available in the first half of 2025.
FlashBlade//S500 certified with NVIDIA DGX SuperPOD for high-end AI training
To further enhance its AI offerings, Pure Storage has also announced the certification of FlashBlade//S500 with NVIDIA DGX SuperPOD. This certification means that businesses can now confidently use the FlashBlade//S500 for high-performance storage, ensuring it meets the power, space, and efficiency needs of large-scale AI training.
The certified solution is optimised for enterprise AI, allowing organisations to manage high-end workloads with flexibility and scalability. It also offers energy efficiency, making it a sustainable choice for businesses aiming to meet growing AI requirements. This new certification, alongside the previously announced solutions such as AIRI with NVIDIA DGX BasePOD and FlashStack for AI with Cisco, strengthens Pure Storage’s position as a leader in providing comprehensive AI infrastructure solutions. These offerings cater to businesses of all sizes, from those just beginning their AI journey to those with complex, data-heavy needs.
Expert opinions on accelerating AI deployment
Dan Kogan, Vice President of Enterprise Growth and Solutions at Pure Storage, commented, “The pace of innovation is compelling enterprise customers to leverage AI across their business, but customers are held back by the fundamental challenge of siloed data platforms and complex-to-deploy Gen AI pipelines. Pure’s expanded portfolio of AI solutions with turnkey, validated designs for GenAI and large enterprise AI clusters help customers navigate these challenges. The validated designs dramatically reduce the time to value and operational risks of AI projects by holistically addressing the needs at every layer of the technology stack.”
Tony Paikeday, Senior Director of AI Systems at NVIDIA, added, “AI is transforming industries at an unprecedented pace, and enterprises need powerful, validated solutions and infrastructure to achieve their AI strategies. The Pure Storage GenAI Pod with NVIDIA AI Enterprise software and the certification of FlashBlade//S500 with NVIDIA DGX SuperPOD can help organisations eliminate infrastructure complexity, speed deployments, and simplify operations.”
Neil Anderson, VP of Cloud, Infrastructure, and AI Solutions at WWT, noted, “One of the top challenges we see with our customers today around generative AI initiatives is accelerating time to value. We’re excited to partner with Pure Storage to deploy full-stack, reference designs in the WWT AI Proving Ground focused on driving meaningful outcomes for our joint customers.”
Ashok Reddy, CEO of KX, also expressed excitement about the collaboration, highlighting the value of integrating structured and unstructured data in the capital markets sector. “By using NVIDIA’s AI Enterprise software platform with NIM microservices and NeMo Retriever for retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) and Pure Storage’s proven AI capabilities for world-class efficiency and reliability, this work will accelerate the performance of AI workloads across the financial sector,” he said.
The Pure Storage GenAI Pod and FlashBlade//S500 certification mark significant milestones in the company’s commitment to enabling businesses to accelerate their AI initiatives with simplified, high-performance solutions.
