On-prem VMware users with external block storage can face problems moving to the Azure cloud, and Pure Storage is hoping to attract customers who have those issues with its AVS (Azure VMware Solution) product.
The problems faced by orgs center on providing the same on-prem external block storage facilities in the Azure cloud that a customer has on-premises. For example they may be using vSphere Storage APIs for Array Integration (VAAI) and vSphere Virtual Volumes (vVols) in their VMware environment and support for them is lacking in Azure, according to Pure. They may also find it difficult to separate compute and storage instances in Azure for their vSphere environment and pay for for storage or compute by using combined instances. Pure can fix these refactoring issues with its AVS fully managed block Storage-as-a-Service (STaaS).
Pure's Shawn Hansen, GM for its Core Platform, stated: "Enterprises have struggled for years with the inefficiencies and high costs tied to migrating VMware workloads to the cloud. [AVS] eliminates these obstacles by providing seamless, scalable storage as-a-service that scales efficiently and independently with business needs."
Scott Hunter, VP Microsoft Developer Division, said: "Through this collaboration, Pure and Microsoft can better serve customer needs by enabling them to provision, use and manage Pure Storage on Azure just like other Azure services."
AVS decouples Pure's block storage, Azure Cloud Block Store, and compute in the Azure Cloud. It provides an external storage option for organizations needing to migrate storage volumes and VMs to Azure, providing the same on-prem block storage experience for VMs running in the Azure cloud. VAAI and vVols are supported.
AVS optimizes Azure storage instances, with Pure claiming customers can save up to 40 percent on their Azure VMware Solution costs when using it. It says data protection is built in with Pure's SafeMode Snapshots, enabling systems to be back up-and-running in minutes when data is needing to be restored.
Because the storage environment, as seen from VMware, is the same on-premises and in Azure, a single hybrid data plane is in operation. Pure says, IT teams can centrally manage their storage and monitor usage without having two separate silos to look after.
AVS, a development of Pure's Azure Native Integrations service, is being announced before it enters its preview development stage, which it will soon, says Pure.