PSC Dedicated on Azure - 6.10.x so far
In this post, I though to do a quick look back at the 6.10.x PSC Dedicated on Azure, as we've seen quite a few interesting features be added. Let's start with NVMe-Based Backend. Prior to the 6.10.0 release, Pure Storage Cloud Dedicated for Azure used an SCSI-based backend to connect Managed Disks (both SSDs and NVRAM) to its controller VMs. Starting with 6.10.0, PSC Dedicated SKUs with Premium V2 SSDs will leverage NVMe-based access for Managed Disks. NVMe is a high-speed storage protocol that enables direct communication with storage devices over the PCIe bus. Compared to SCSI, NVMe brings improvements potentially resulting in lower latency, higher IOPS, and reduced CPU utilization. To begin using the NVMe backend, upgrade the array to Purity version 6.10.0. As part of this upgrade, the existing SCSI-based controller VM is automatically replaced with an equivalent NVMe-enabled VM. This transition is fully automated and transparent, no manual steps or redeployment is required, and there are no changes to the user interface or management workflows. The cost of the array also remains unchanged. NVMe becomes the only supported backend protocol moving onward (6.10.0+), there is no option to revert back to SCSI. Let's also look at the backend Performance Characteristics to better understand the change here. The backend performance - meaning the IOPS and throughput between the controller VM and the attached managed disks - is primarily determined by the VM size. This is because Azure imposes VM-level caps on both backend IOPS and throughput. These limits apply regardless of the number of attached disks. The maximum achievable backend IOPS for the primary controller is based on the lower of: The IOPS cap defined by Azure for the VM SKU The combined IOPS of all attached SSDs (Azure Managed Disks) Individual PSC Dedicated SSD Managed Disk performance was selected and configured as to saturate the controller VM backend limits, i.e.: Maximum VM backend IOPS / # of SSD disks = each SSD IOPS Azure also enforces a VM-level backend bandwidth limit, which is a combined cap across both read and write operations. This means that even with multiple high-throughput disks, the total achievable bandwidth cannot exceed what the VM SKU allows. With the switch to NVMe protocol, Azure increases these backend IOPS and bandwidth caps of compatible VMs are raised. This includes the ones used as PSC Dedicated Controllers (for MP2R2 SKUs) VM Size Backend type Max Backend IOPS Max Backend R/W Throughput (MBps) Frontend Network Bandwidth (Mbps) V10MP2R2 NVMe 88,400 2,300 12,500 V10MP2R2 SCSI 64,800 1,370 12,500 V20MP2R2 NVMe 174,200 4,800 16,000 V20MP2R2 SCSI 129,700 2,740 16,000 Source: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/virtual-machines/ebdsv5-ebsv5-series From the table above it is clear both IOPS and Bandwidth are seeing significant improvement, positively influencing certain workloads. Increase in backend IOPS is expected to bring benefits in a mixed read/write workload with small IO sizes. Increase in backend bandwidth can be beneficial for non-reducible mixed read/write workloads with high array utilisation. However, keep in mind the managed disk configuration (both SSD and NVRAM) remains the same. This ensures the overall cost remains unchanged with this switch. Also, while the NVMe backend may contribute to an increased storage performance capabilities, other limits (such as frontend network bandwidth and IOPS) still apply. To further extend the performance potential of PSC Dedicated outside of backend limits, in 6.10.2, we've seen an introduction of a brand new SKU, the Azure V50MP2R2. For the new SKU, Azure D128ds v6 virtual machines (VM) were used as controller VMs, along with Premium SSD v2 managed disks. VMs in this class provide up to 6.75 GBps of network egress for read/replication traffic and significantly higher back‑end IOPS and bandwidth for managed disk connectivity. The NVMe back‑end is used by default on the SKU and similarly to current V10 and V20 models, it supports both customer driven non-disruptive Purity upgrades and Controller Scaling (e.g. it is possible to non-disruptively scale to the V50MP2R2 from lower MP2R2 SKUs). At launch, the V50 is available in the following regions: Central US East US East US 2 South Central US Canada Central Canada East Last but not least, 6.10.3 aims to address Azure maintenance or brief infrastructure events, during which the array can experience short-lived increases in I/O latency to backend managed disks. These spikes may be transient yet noticeable by hosts and applications. To harden array behavior against these conditions, PSC Dedicated 6.10.3 on Azure comes with a newly configured set of array-level tunables. These adjust how controllers interpret delayed I/O, coordinate takeovers, and manage internal leases so the array prefers riding out transient backend conditions rather than initiating a controller failover.Pure Cloud Block Store is now Pure Storage Cloud Dedicated (PSC Dedicated)
Pure Storage Cloud Dedicated: Name Change, Same Enterprise-Grade Experience Pure Storage Cloud is an enterprise-grade block storage delivered as a service in the public cloud. It extends the data services and evergreen architecture of the Purity operating system and can be deployed in: Azure as a fully managed native service or a customer-managed service integrated with Azure VMware Solution (AVS) AWS as a customer-managed service integrated with Elastic VMware Service (EVS) What’s New? Pure Cloud Block Store, the customer-managed service, is being renamed Pure Storage Cloud Dedicated (PSC Dedicated). This change reflects its integration into the Pure Storage Cloud family and alignment with the Enterprise Data Cloud strategy. What’s Not Changing? Everything That Matters Your experience, performance, and features remain the same. Pure Storage Cloud Dedicated continues to provide: Enterprise Data Services: Purity software in Azure and AWS, with data reduction, thin provisioning, and snapshots. Cost Efficiency: Optimized storage usage and reduced footprint through data reduction. Reliability & Resilience: Built-in redundancy, high availability, and cyber resilience. Hybrid & Multi-Cloud Mobility: Consistent APIs and replication across FlashArrays and PSC Dedicated for migration, DR, and data mobility. Disaster Recovery & Backup: Asynchronous and near-synchronous replication, plus snapshots for cost-effective backup and rapid recovery. VMware Workload Support: Enterprise-grade storage for VMware in AVS and EVS environments. Why This Matters The shift from Pure Cloud Block Store to Pure Storage Cloud Dedicated unifies offerings under the Pure Storage Cloud umbrella while advancing the broader Enterprise Data Cloud strategy.Accelerate Breakout Replay: Seamless VMware Workloads in AWS with Elastic VMware Service and Pure Cloud Block Store™
Discover how EVS & Pure Cloud Block Store™ bring VMware to the cloud with operational consistency and new workload opportunities. Speakers: Pavel Kovar Ron Wedel, AWS https://www.purestorage.com/video/webinars/seamless-vmware-workloads-in-aws-with-elastic/6375806872112.htmlAccelerate Breakout Replay: From Data Center to Azure: Seamless VMware Migrations Unleashed with Pure Storage Cloud
Learn how Pure Storage Azure-native service simplifies AVS migration with elastic storage, unified management, and FinOps-friendly scaling. Speakers: Vaclav Jirovsky Husam Hilal, MSFT Joe Ervolino, Dupaco https://www.purestorage.com/video/webinars/from-data-center-to-azure-seamless-vmware-migrations-unleashed/6375801044112.htmlPurely Cloud Podcast - CBS on Azure Technical Deep Dive
Together with vjirovsky we hosted a podcast episode where we discussed CBS on Azure architecture and best practices. Have a listen here: https://soundcloud.com/user-917746545/purely-cloud-guest-series-cbs-on-azure-technical-deep-dive-and-deployment-best-practicesUse CBS as persistent storage on AKS via Portworx CSI driver
Hi all, with the recent version of Portworx CSI driver (v25.4.0) you can mount a persistent block volume on CBS into your containers on Kubernetes and utilize all features and benefits of CBS. Sharing my recent blog post, how to set it up on Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS): https://blog.vjirovsky.cz/portworx-csi-with-aks-with-cbs/CBS 6.8.7 released
This version brings several updates to Cloud Block Store on both AWS and Azure. Automatic Capacity Upgrade for CBS on Azure enables customers to automatically increase total CBS capacity by adding additional storage to the array when total used storage capacity reaches the threshold of 80%. Along with the Automatic Capacity Upgrade, we released Selectable Initial Capacity, which allows customers to choose the array capacity during initial deployment. Starting from this release it’s possible to configure NVMe-TCP connection between CBS on AWS and AWS Linux based native VMs. NVMe-TCP is seen as the modern successor to iSCSI for block storage, particularly for workloads demanding high performance. Both CBS AWS and CBS Azure now support over-the-wire encryption capability for arrays that are replicating using synchronous connections, adding to the existing support for encrypted asynchronous replication. For more details, please refer to Purity Release Notes.
Pure Storage Cloud for Azure VMware Solution | Public Preview Announcement
Pure Storage Cloud for Azure VMware Solution has officially entered a Public Preview phase! Check out the launch blog posts: Pure Storage Cloud for Azure VMware Solution: A Closer Look Announcing the Public Preview of Azure Native Pure Storage Cloud for Azure VMware Solution | Microsoft Community HubMarch 2025 | Cloud Block Store Updates!
What’s new in Pure Cloud Block Store CBS 6.8.4 released This version is bringing multiple Purity OS improvements shared across on-premise FlashArray and Pure Cloud Block Store. For more details, please refer to Purity Release Notes. Tip of the Month For CBS documentation requests, you can use a new workflow available directly from this Slack channel. Just click Workflows on top of the window - select Cloud Documentation Request - fill out the form, and we’ll take care of the rest. Blogs Pure Cloud Block Store with Cirrus Migrate Cloud, part 1 - read here Pure Cloud Block Store with Cirrus Migrate Cloud, part 2 - read here Podcasts Purely Cloud episode 4 - Living with Pure Cloud Block Store - listen here Purely Cloud episode 5 - Bridging Worlds with Azure VMware Solution - listen here
