Pure Storage partners with Microsoft Azure

Pure Storage has partnered with Microsoft Azure to significantly speed next-gen chip design by delivering a data layer that can keep up with massive, concurrent high-performance computing (HPC) workloads running in the cloud. FlashBlade at Equinix with Microsoft Azure for EDA is the first-ever validated solution to leverage cloud-adjacent storage for engineering design and automation (EDA) workloads.

The customer demand for development of advanced chips has created a need for much higher performance than today’s legacy storage architectures can provide. Amid the global chip shortage, organizations are looking to leverage the public cloud for HPC workloads and to speed overall design and manufacturing. 

Pure Storage and Equinix have joined forces with Microsoft Azure to deliver cloud-adjacent storage for EDA, HPC and other highly parallel workloads, such as software build and testing. The solution leverages Pure Storage FlashBlade®, the leading unified fast file and object (UFFO) storage platform that delivers multi-dimensional performance at scale. 

Built with next-generation chip design in mind, FlashBlade offers improved efficiency and resource utilization as well as advanced analytics to eliminate bottlenecks. FlashBlade’s core value proposition of simplicity, multi-dimensional performance, and scalability enable reduction of job run time, making it the ideal storage solution for EDA workloads.

“The processing resources in the public cloud empower chip designers to drive innovation, but they still need high-performance storage that can scale rapidly to keep pace. By coupling FlashBlade with Azure, EDA customers are able to use the practically unlimited compute ability of the public cloud for next-generation product development while maintaining full control over data governance and security.” -- Amy Fowler, Vice President, Strategy and Solutions, FlashBlade Business Unit at Pure Storage.

FlashBlade at Equinix with Azure for EDA employs FlashBlade in an Equinix data center with a low-latency connection to Azure. The solution offers several benefits, including:

• Simplified Cloud Adoption: Using array-level features, data can be staged and ready for cloud use at any time and in any location geographically.

• Performance at Scale: FlashBlade is a high-performance, all-flash storage system for file and object data. It can support hundreds of thousands of parallel TCP connections per chassis to enable high levels of parallel computation.

• Security and Control: Customers retain full control of their data while leveraging FlashBlade’s Purity operating system with built-in security and data management features. Enterprises will also have the ability to flex to multiple clouds without data migration.

“Microsoft is pleased to work with Pure Storage on the first-ever connected-cloud solution for EDA workloads, enabling customers to speed up semiconductor design flows using Microsoft Azure. This cooperation demonstrates our commitment to providing customers with optimal storage options for high performance scenarios and enabling partners across the ecosystem.” -- Mujtaba Hamid, Head of Product, Modeling & Simulation, Azure at Microsoft

“Expanding our relationships with Pure Storage and Azure to deliver this cloud adjacent storage solution is a win for customers - enabling them to more easily address the stringent performance, governance, and security requirements of HPC and EDA for semiconductor workloads. Critical to this solution is a connected-cloud architecture that combines physical proximity and ultra-fast, low-latency, private connections between the Pure Storage FlashBlade and Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute infrastructure hosted at Equinix, unlocking a powerful new way for customers to push the high performance compute envelope.” -- Zachary Smith, Managing Director of Equinix Metal