We are just one week away PUG#3
January 28th, the Cincinnati Pure User Group will be convening at Ace's Pickleball to discuss Enterprise file. We will be joined by Matt Niederhelman Unstructured Data Field Solutions Architect to help guide conversation and answer questions about what he is experiencing amongst other customers. Click the link below to register and come join us. Help us guide the conversation with your ideas for future topics. https://info.purestorage.com/2025-Q4AMS-COMREPLTFSCincinnatiPUG-LP_01---Registration-Page.htmlCincinnati Pure User Group: Real-time Enterprise File
Register Now => Join us for an exclusive Pure User Group (PUG) session dedicated to the future of file services. This isn't just a technical briefing; it’s a community gathering designed for peer-to-peer learning and strategic roadmap building. We’re diving deep into the Real-time Enterprise File vision—exploring how to unify your environment across FlashArray and FlashBlade to eliminate silos and escape the "forklift upgrade" trap forever. Whether you’re managing simple departmental shares or complex AI/ML pipelines, this is your chance to connect with local experts, share battle-tested insights, and see how to make your data plane as agile as your business demands. What You’ll Learn The Power of Choice: Understand how Pure’s file capabilities span the entire portfolio. We’ll clarify exactly when to leverage FlashArray vs. FlashBlade for workloads ranging from VDI and VMware over NFS to massive AI/ML repositories. Production-Ready Excellence: Go beyond the basics with a look at the capabilities that matter in the real world: multi-protocol support (SMB/NFS), directory integration, Kerberos security, and multi-tenancy for segmented environments. The "Last Refresh" Strategy: Get practical, no-nonsense guidance on sizing and migration tooling. Learn how to consolidate legacy filers and execute a migration that ensures you never have to do a forklift upgrade again. Peer-to-Peer Wisdom: This is a user group first. You’ll hear directly from local customers about their real-world journeys—what worked, what didn't, and the lessons they learned that you can apply to your own data center tomorrow. Event Agenda 2:00 PM | Welcome & Round-the-Room: We start with quick intros. We want to know who you are and exactly what technical hurdles you’re looking to clear. 2:15 PM | The Real-time Enterprise File Vision: An overview of the vision and where the portfolio is headed. See what’s new and what’s next for FlashArray and FlashBlade. 2:40 PM | Deep Dive: Design Patterns & Use Cases: We’ll walk through common architectural designs for home directories, content repositories, and NFS datastores, including proven protection and recovery patterns. 3:10 PM | Customer Spotlight & Panel: A 25-minute interactive session with local peers. Hear their architecture stories and get your toughest questions answered in an open Q&A. 3:35 PM | Whiteboard Session: Your File Roadmap: An open, interactive conversation about your specific challenges—from unstructured data growth to migration blockers. Let’s map out where Pure can help. 3:55 PM | Wrap-up & Next Steps: Key takeaways, resources for your team, and a preview of our next PUG event. 4:00 PM | Networking & Happy Hour Date & Time January 28, 2026 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM EST Location Aces Pickleball 2730 Maverick Dr Norwood, OH 45212 (Factory 52)Who's using Pure Protect?
Hey everyone, Just wondering if anyone else is using Pure Protect yet. We have gone through the quick start guide and have a VMWare to VMWare configuration setup. We have configured our first policy and group utilizing a test VM but it seems to be stuck in the protection phase. I would be very interested to hear what others have seen or experienced. -CharlesCincinnati PUG 3
Well, it's the start of the year and time to start planning our next Cincinnati User Group. In our last meeting we discussed Cyber Resiliency with Shawn Snider, Chief Information Security Officer at SEHP. This session we look to tackle topics around Enterprise File. We have targeted January 28th, again at Ace's Pickleball. I or Nick Fritsch will post the verified details soon. Looking forward to more great discussion and collaboration!Cincinnati PUG Launch
Thank you to all who helped make the 1st Cincinnati PUG meeting a success. A special thank you to charles_sheppar, who presented how Pure Storage has transformed his data center over the past 10 years (for the positive). After Charles, dstevens shared his thoughts on the changing virtualization landscape. David made the most of his time in Cincinnati, from meeting with customers, attending the PUG, as well as partaking in some Cincinnati classics, Skyline and Graeters. In User Group fashion, Charles is taking the lead and already thinking of topics and ideas for the next meeting. Charles has a "scary" idea that I think is perfect for the next user event. Leave a comment if you want to get involved in helping plan and organize the next event.
