Flash storage economics have shifted dramatically as AI workloads consume capacity at unprecedented rates, pushing lead times from weeks to quarters and driving prices up three to four times what organizations budgeted just a year ago. For IT leaders managing storage expansion projects approved under yesterday’s pricing, the math no longer works, forcing a fundamental rethink: rather than asking how to acquire more flash, the question has become how to extract dramatically more value from the flash capacity already sitting in the data center.
StorONE is addressing that shift head-on with the release of Version 4.0, which significantly expands the company’s 9x flash optimization technology. In this VMblog Q&A, StorONE CEO Gal Naor explains how the platform’s Real-Time Tiering architecture now extends beyond retired arrays and idle SSDs to unlock unused capacity inside active, production All-Flash Arrays from virtually any vendor. The result, Naor says, is a way for organizations to uncover the “hidden diamonds” already embedded in their storage infrastructure, freeing up expensive flash, avoiding unnecessary purchases, and achieving up to 9x more effective storage without sacrificing performance.
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VMblog: StorONE recently announced Version 4.0. What’s new about this release?
Gal Naor: StorONE Version 4.0 significantly expands our 9× flash optimization technology. Organizations can now deploy high-performance enterprise storage immediately, without waiting months for additional flash capacity or paying today’s dramatically higher flash prices.
The major innovation in Version 4.0 is the ability to use available capacity inside existing third-party All-Flash Arrays from virtually any storage vendor as the flash tier within StorONE Real-Time Tiering (RTT). Previous releases already allowed organizations to leverage unused SSDs, NVMe drives, and even retired All-Flash Arrays. Version 4.0 extends that capability to active production All-Flash Arrays, enabling customers to unlock up to 9× more effective storage from the flash infrastructure they already own instead of purchasing more flash.
VMblog: Why is flash optimization becoming a bigger issue now?
Naor: The economics of flash storage have fundamentally changed. AI is still in its early stages, yet it is already consuming enormous amounts of flash capacity. Lead times that were once measured in weeks are now measured in quarters, and flash prices have increased three to four times.
As a result, organizations can no longer assume they will simply buy more flash whenever they need additional capacity. Storage strategies are shifting from expanding flash infrastructure to maximizing the value of existing flash investments. The question is no longer “How do we buy more flash?” but rather “How do we get dramatically more value from the flash we already own?”
VMblog: Many organizations already own All-Flash Arrays. What challenges are they facing today?
Naor: Many storage expansion projects that were approved and budgeted a year ago now cost three to four times more than originally planned. For many organizations, expanding existing All-Flash Arrays has simply become economically unjustifiable.
Our recommendation is straightforward: before purchasing additional flash, determine whether all the data currently stored on your All-Flash Array truly requires flash performance. In many environments, a significant portion of the data no longer needs to reside on flash, yet it still must remain immediately accessible. By adding an affordable HDD tier with StorONE Real-Time Tiering, organizations can achieve up to 9× more effective storage, free valuable flash capacity, and avoid unnecessary flash purchases, all while maintaining high application performance.
VMblog: Storage tiering has been around for years. What’s different about StorONE’s approach?
Naor: StorONE developed a completely different approach to storage tiering. Our Real-Time Tiering technology was designed from the ground up to optimize active enterprise data, not to archive inactive data.
StorONE operates as a single storage volume spanning both flash and lower-cost media. All data remains online, immediately accessible, and part of the same storage system at all times. Instead of copying data between separate storage systems or archive platforms, StorONE continuously moves data within the same volume, automatically keeping active data on flash while relocating less-active data to lower-cost storage.
Behind the scenes, sophisticated algorithms continuously optimize high-performance writes while relocating data in real time without disrupting application performance. The result is enterprise performance with dramatically lower flash requirements.
VMblog: StorONE recently introduced support for using third-party All-Flash Arrays as part of its Real-Time Tiering architecture. What does this mean for customers?
Naor: This new capability allows organizations to dramatically extend the life and value of the storage infrastructure they already own. Customers can continue using their existing All-Flash Arrays, add an affordable HDD tier, and achieve up to 9× more effective storage instead of purchasing additional flash.
We refer to these existing flash resources as hidden diamonds. Many organizations already have valuable flash assets sitting idle, available capacity inside production All-Flash Arrays, workloads that no longer require flash performance, unused SSDs, or even retired All-Flash Arrays. StorONE enables customers to immediately reclaim expensive flash capacity by automatically relocating less-active data to lower-cost storage while keeping every byte online and instantly accessible.
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