Flash storage array manufacturer Pure Storage is eying the SMB space with its VMware-certified VDI Reference Architectures and All-Flash VDI Starter Kit. It aims to provide its all-flash storage to virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) deployments for less than $100/seat.
“FlashArray makes it affordable for every SMB to offer their users the best all-flash VDI experience,” the company states in a press release submitted to ChannelPro-SMB.
VDI environments enable companies to provide reliable, flexible, and secure desktop systems. VDI is evolving from simple call center and task worker deployments, to broader rollouts for productivity users and executives, where it is enabling secure mobile computing and Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) models.†
Traditional VDI architectures based on spinning disk often cost $300-$500 per desktop. They rely heavily on stateless images to constrain storage growth and pose scalability challenges.
“Flash storage is the key to making VDI scale and meet user performance expectations,” says Pure Storage. “The high cost associated with flash storage has, however, prevented its broad adoption until now.”
Pure Storage reports having performed lab and customer testing with both VMware View and Citrix XenDesktop solutions to create a set of All-Flash VDI Reference Architectures. Its reference architectures offer a set of validated solutions, enabling SMBs to deploy VMware or Citrix VDI on FlashArray. Configurations range from hundreds of desktops to thousands of desktops and can be incrementally expanded as VDI deployments grow. The FlashArray Reference Architectures are now listed as compatible with VMware View 5 and the FlashArray is an approved†Rapid Desktop solution.
VDI Starter Kit
The Pure Storage VDI Starter Kit is designed to be a lower-cost, lower-capacity version of the FlashArray ideally suited to VDI pilot deployments. Available in both HA and non-HA versions, the VDI Starter Kit can host up to 10 TBs worth of VDI data with the same performance and features of a full FlashArray solution.
“The VDI Starter Kit enables customers to run low-cost VDI pilot deployments that can easily scale to the largest FlashArray configuration for an enterprise-wide VDI rollout without downtime or a costly ‘rip-and-replace’ effort,” states Pure Storage in its press release.
“Organizations across the globe recognize the inherent benefits of virtual desktop infrastructures. Their existing storage environments cannot, however, meet the performance-intensive requirements for VDI. Or, they have to buy so much of it that it becomes cost-prohibitive,” adds Matt Kixmoeller, Pure Storage’s vice president of products. “With the VDI Starter Kit, Pure Storage is now able to deliver the performance benefits of flash to organizations of any size and support the deployment of VDI for higher security, lower administration costs, and a great end-user experience at a low point of entry that easily fits within existing IT budgets.”
Availability
The All-Flash VDI Reference Architecture is available for download from purestorage.com. The FlashArray VDI Starter Kit is available for purchase from Pure Storage resellers, with configurations available for well under the street price of $100K, depending on configuration.†
