INNOVATION IN THE AI ERA
UNLOCKING THE FULL POTENTIAL OF DATA THROUGH INTELLIGENT INFRASTRUCTURE
At GITEX Global , Walid Issa , Senior Manager , Presales and Solutions Engineering Middle East and Africa , NetApp , discussed the advantages of NetApp ’ s new AFF A-Series systems , and the role that AI plays in the company ’ s solution suite .
Walid Issa , Senior Manager , Presales and Solutions Engineering Middle East and Africa , NetApp
wWhat are the key advantages of NetApp ' s new AFF A-Series systems ?
The new A-Series is a continuation of the existing platform and demonstrates continued innovation from NetApp for unified storage , mission critical applications and AI infrastructure . It eliminates storage silos and complexity , offering powerful , intelligent and secure storage . NetApp ’ s unified data storage supports block , file and object storage protocols , and
integrates with major public cloud providers .
The new AFF A-Series systems deliver up to 2x better performance , 99.9999 % data availability , 40M IOPS , 1TB / s throughput and integrated real-time ransomware detection .
How do NetApp ’ s intelligent data management solutions help organisations unlock the potential of their data while enhancing security ?
We built our intelligent data infrastructure to help our customers solve their business challenges .
This requires a specific architecture , so they can access their data wherever they want it and whenever they need it .
Can you explain the significance of Azure NetApp Files for organisations using Microsoft Azure ?
Azure NetApp Files is a first party cloud-based storage service that provides high-performance , scalable and reliable file storage for Azure workloads . It enables organisations to seamlessly migrate and run their applications in the Azure cloud while maintaining enterprise-level performance and data management capabilities .
What role does AI play in NetApp ' s solutions , particularly for channel and alliances ?
When it comes to AI , it ' s always a collaborative effort — it ’ s really an ecosystem between us , our partners and our alliances .
We provide the technology and the intelligent data infrastructure to host the solution , and our partners have the opportunity to provide services like implementation , deployment etc .
Most important and a key factor is our strategic alliance with Nvidia which enables us to provide powerful GPU accelerated infrastructure that supports the high computational demands of AI workloads to process the AI data using our intelligent infrastructure .
How do NetApp ’ s unified data storage solutions eliminate storage silos for enterprises operating in hybrid cloud environments ?
We are known as the Unified Storage Vendor and Provider , which means that we use a unified operating system ( ONTAP ) across all our platforms , whether it ' s on-prem or in the cloud .
That facilitates and simplifies the operation and the management , providing the same experience in both environments .
In addition , we use a unified management platform called BlueXP , ensuring ease of setup from on-prem to cloud , private or public , from one single pane of glass . p
Our storage operating system ONTAP provides customers with the same experience whether they are accessing it on-premises or in the cloud . It has built-in security features like antiransomware so customers can utilise this intelligent infrastructure not only to host their data , but to secure it too .
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WHEN IT COMES TO AI , IT ’ S ALWAYS A COLLABORATIVE EFFORT — IT ’ S REALLY AN ECOSYSTEM BETWEEN US , OUR PARTNERS AND OUR ALLIANCES .
INNOVATION IN THE AI ERA 15