Accelerating  the transition to an all-flash future

FlashStack CI is a flexible, all-flash converged infrastructure solution that combines the latest in compute, network, storage hardware and virtualisation software, into a single, integrated architecture that speeds time to deployment, lowers overall IT costs and reduces deployment risk. FlashStack CI streamlines the implementation of all-flash infrastructure for enterprises and service providers. FlashStack CI now offers the Pure Storage FlashArray product family with Microsoft SQL Server and Citrix XenDesktop adding to previously published configurations for Cisco UCS Blade Servers, Cisco Nexus switches, VMware vSphere® 5 and VMware Horizon 6.

“Since the launch of FlashStack CI in December 2014, the response from our channel and customer base about our CI solutions has been resoundingly positive. By bringing new converged infrastructure offerings to market based on all-flash, partners are equipped to support their customers’ transition to an all-flash future,” said Michael Sotnick, Vice President of Global Channels and Alliances at Pure Storage. “We’ve attracted new global partners through the proven-success of our solution. By introducing Microsoft SQL Server and Citrix XenDesktop configurations, FlashStack CI equips our customers and partners with the performance, simplicity, high-availability and reliability they need to increase revenue opportunities and lead their perspective markets.”

IT departments are increasingly turning to converged infrastructure solutions to simplify the design and repeatability of their data centre infrastructure investments. FlashStack CI streamlines the selection, planning, design, implementation and support of a complete data centre infrastructure stack powered by virtualisation and flash. In addition, FlashStack CI eliminates performance bottlenecks, increases infrastructure reliability and provides dramatic savings in power, cooling and rack space.

New FlashStack CI for Citrix XenDesktop and Microsoft SQL Server
The Pure Storage FlashStack CI for Citrix XenDesktop 7.6 delivers virtual applications and desktops to allow enterprises to securely mobilise business at the speed of flash memory. The configurations can scale with ease up to 7,500 production-ready VMs in a single rack. This allows for the virtualisation of mobile workspaces and applications with high performance, low latency and a quality user experience to drive employee productivity without interruption or downtime. Citrix XenDesktop is optimised for each customer device in order to meet the performance, security and mobility requirements of each user while simplifying deployment and management of virtual desktop environments.

“Pure Storage’s FlashStack Converged Infrastructure is designed to be a reliable, cost-effective, high-performance platform for XenDesktop,” said Calvin Hsu, Vice President of Product Marketing, Windows App Delivery at Citrix. “Together, Citrix and Pure Storage provide powerful new ways to drive employee productivity and satisfaction.”

The Pure Storage FlashStack CI for Microsoft SQL Server 2014 delivers mission critical performance across all workloads and insights from their data at a faster rate. Deployments that require high performance are perfectly suited for FlashStack CI integration as it implements simple, repeatable SQL infrastructures that provide predictable performance at a lower total cost. A simple deployment leads to faster reports and queries to be able to make better decisions based on the data, reliable performance without costly downtime or outages, disaster recovery capabilities and native storage-based data replication.

New FlashStack Partner Accreditation Allows Partners to Resell FlashStack and Expand Opportunities
The new FlashStack CI Partner Accreditation makes FlashStack sales opportunities available to an expanded group of Pure Storage P3 partners and provides new potential revenue growth opportunities to a wider group of partners. FlashStack CI customers now have a choice to receive support either from a FlashStack Authorised Support Partner or directly from the infrastructure vendors at the core of FlashStack CI: Pure Storage, VMware and Cisco. This option augments the previously announced program, which includes the FlashStack Authorised Support Partner Accreditation for partners who offer single-call support across the entire solution stack. For customers, this means more solutions choices, design guidance and a wider range of services available for a better experience.