The quest for simplification in IT has become important, especially as the digital landscape evolves and complexities grow.

Flash storage technology has also grown to play a major role in reshaping the future of IT, helping to simplify operations, address sustainability concerns and enhance performance. Pure Storage Inc.’s commitment to simplification in this rapidly evolving industry is indicative of the importance of delivering a unified and user-friendly experience in the IT landscape, according to Steve McDowell (pictured), principal analyst and founding partner at Nand Research LLC.

“I think we’re about to hit kind of the second evolution of flash,” he said. “Pure Storage was key in pushing the industry in the direction of all-flash. The densities, the price, the performance, the reliability that we put around [quad-level cell NAND] make it a viable alternative.”

McDowell spoke with theCUBE industry analyst Dave Vellante at The Next Generation of Storage event, during an exclusive broadcast on theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio. They discussed the ever-increasing demands of the digital era and how flash storage is poised to become the harbinger of simplicity, sustainability and performance in the next generation of storage solutions. (* Disclosure below.)

The ever-growing complexity of it: From cloud hopes to hybrid realities

The industry has always grappled with complexity, despite the promise of cloud solutions to simplify matters, according to McDowell. While cloud adoption was expected to alleviate infrastructure complexity, it led to a new challenge: managing a blend of cloud and on-premises environments, creating more layers of complexity.

This hybrid cloud infrastructure, often referred to as “supercloud,” has presented IT professionals with the arduous task of juggling multiple cloud providers and on-premises systems. The cloud has indeed reset expectations, introducing self-service and consumption-based models, with the blend of these models making the IT landscape even more intricate, according to McDowell.

“What cloud has also done is it’s reset the expectations of what an IT experience can be,” he said. “We’re living in an extremely complex world that’s a blend of clouds. So, there’s a lot going on for the poor IT guy.”

Flash storage’s ascension: Addressing complexity, sustainability and performance

Flash storage is emerging as a key part in the quest to simplify IT as it evolves from its early days when it disrupted the storage industry to the present, where it is reshaping data center architecture. The economics of flash storage is a driving force behind its adoption, according to McDowell.

As QLC NAND prices have decreased, flash storage has become more cost-competitive, making it a viable alternative to traditional spinning hard drives. Moreover, the operational efficiency of flash, with its minimal power consumption and heat generation, contributes to its sustainability, reducing the environmental impact of data centers.

“The price of NAND for some capacities has already crossed over that of hard disk drives, and we can see a point in time where at the same capacity point the NAND will be as cheap or cheaper than spinning hard drives,” McDowell said.

As data centers consume a significant portion of global energy, it’s essential to reduce energy consumption and heat generation. Flash storage’s semiconductor-based technology consumes far less energy and generates less heat compared to traditional hard drives, McDowell explained. It also allows for higher data density, contributing to the environmental efficiency of data centers.

“From a sustainability perspective, there’s no question that flash is more sustainable,” he said. “There’s also not just the power consumed, but the heat generated. Flash doesn’t generate the heat that a mechanical hard drive does. Thirdly, is the density story. I can pack a whole lot more bites into a flash array than I can a hard-drive-based array just in terms of the physical footprint.”

Here’s the complete video interview, part of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of  The Next Generation of Storage event:

Watch the entire event episode below:

(* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for “The Next Generation of Storage” event. Neither Pure Storage, the sponsor of theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE