Pure Storage and Cisco have introduced a new FlashStack Cisco Validated Design (CVD) that integrates compute, storage, networking, and software into a single production-grade platform designed to help enterprises move from AI pilot projects to full-scale deployment. The CVD is part of Cisco’s Secure AI Factory with NVIDIA and expands the growing collection of AI PODs within the framework.
“Too often, enterprises focus on GPUs and compute power, but without reliable data, the model never reaches its potential,” said Maciej Kranz, GM, Enterprise, Pure Storage. “Our collaboration with Cisco and NVIDIA removes those data barriers, giving customers the performance, simplicity, and efficiency they need to operationalise AI.”
The partnership aims to address one of the biggest challenges enterprises face when scaling AI — fragmented data architectures and operational friction that stall projects before production. The validated design ensures both structured and unstructured data are available to AI workflows, leveraging Pure Storage’s Enterprise Data Cloud architecture. FlashBlade//S delivers high-performance data access and concurrency, while Portworx by Pure Storage supports persistent and portable data management across Kubernetes-based AI environments.
“With this new FlashStack CVD, we’re not just validating hardware, we’re orchestrating all the elements of RAG into an AI-ready infrastructure, removing complexity and reducing risk so customers can focus on turning data into insights that drive strategic outcomes,” said Jeremy Foster, SVP & GM, Cisco Compute.
The FlashStack CVD combines Pure Storage’s data management capabilities with Cisco’s UCS C845a servers powered by NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 GPUs and NVIDIA AI Enterprise software, providing a consistent, production-ready environment for workloads such as retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), video analytics, and code generation.
Built on a foundation of over 5,000 FlashStack customers, the new design integrates Cisco’s Nexus 9000 series networking for low-latency, congestion-aware connectivity, managed through Cisco NX-OS and Nexus Dashboard. The solution offers unified visibility, adaptive routing, and enterprise-grade security, enabling organisations to focus on innovation rather than infrastructure management.
Discussion about this post