Podcast #135: HPE Alletra Storage MP Sanjay Jagad

Jan 17, 2025

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Brian talks with HPE’s VP of Product Management for Cloud Data Infrastructure while on-site at the HPE facility in Spring, TX. Listen as they discuss the Alletra Storage MP system.

Brian recently visited HPE’s headquarters in beautiful downtown Spring, TX. He invited Sanjay Jagad, a good friend of Storagereview.com, to join him for a detailed discussion about storage and HPE Alletra Storage MP. They discussed the factors driving the storage industry today and how MP has impacted storage system construction.

We have a full write-up and long-form video on YouTube to get up to speed on the platform.

This 40-minute podcast covers a wide range of topics, and it is well worth your time if you can spare it. Otherwise, we have time-stamped the recording so you can skip around as needed.

0:00-5:00 Introduction

HPE Campus Visit & Introduction to Alletra MP Storage
- Brian visits HPE’s headquarters in Texas and introduces the Alletra Storage MP.
- Discuss HPE’s universal storage platform, which separates hardware from operating environments. Provides flexibility and high availability.
- Overview of business benefits and future of storage from HPE’s perspective.
Evolution of Storage
- Sanjay explains the traditional two-controller storage system and how the market is evolving to meet modern demands, such as increased data and distributed applications.

5:00 -11:00 Introduction to Alletra Storage MP

HPE’s Reimagined Storage Approach
- Introduction to Alletra MP, HPE’s reimagined storage solution.
- Focus on simplifying hardware designs with modular building blocks and embracing software-defined storage (SDS) for improved scalability.
Decoupling Hardware and Software
- HPE’s strategy of decoupling hardware from software to stay adaptable to new technologies (e.g., NVMe fabrics, CPUs).
- This allows for independent scaling of compute and storage, giving customers more flexibility.

11:00 -15:00 Scale and Efficiency

Granular Scalability and Cost Efficiency
- Granular scalability allows customers to add storage or controllers incrementally, preventing overprovisioning and optimizing costs.
- This OPEX-based approach enables customers to pay only for the resources they need at a given time, improving TCO (Total Cost of Ownership).
Supply Chain Efficiency and Modular Hardware
- HPE’s standardized hardware platform, using non-proprietary components (e.g., AMD CPUs, OCP NICs), ensures quicker adoption of new technologies like Gen 5 SSDs.
- The modular, Lego-like design allows customers to integrate new tech without replacing entire systems.

15:00 -22:00 Availability and Performance

High Availability and Performance Improvements
- HPE’s stateless controllers ensure seamless failover, offering high availability and performance improvements via the NVMe fabric.
- Customers benefit from dynamic scaling and minimal downtime, crucial for mission-critical workloads.
Investment Protection through Continuous Upgrades
- Timeless program: HPE ensures that as newer CPUs, memory, and I/O modules are released, they can be integrated seamlessly without requiring a complete system replacement.
- This offers customers future-proofing and investment protection for their infrastructure.

22:00 -26:00 Ability to adapt new technologies

Adapting to New Technologies and AI-Driven Management
- HPE’s architecture enables rapid adoption of new technologies (e.g., Gen 5 SSDs, DDR5, CXL).
- AI Ops simplifies operations by automating routine tasks such as provisioning, monitoring, and optimizing workloads. This reduces manual effort and speeds up processes.
Dynamic Workload Management
- The system leverages AI to dynamically adjust infrastructure resources and Kubernetes policies based on workload needs, ensuring SLA compliance and consistent performance.

26:00 -30:00 Unified Hybrid Cloud Control

Seamless Hybrid Cloud Management
- HPE’s architecture supports seamless hybrid cloud management, allowing customers to control both on-premises and cloud-based resources from a single platform.
- This provides true hybrid cloud flexibility, enabling consistent governance and security across environments.
Operational Simplicity and Time Savings
- The architecture reduces the time required to provision and manage storage from weeks to minutes.
- With fewer classically trained storage admins, HPE’s platform is easy to use for IT teams, making management more efficient.

30:00 -34:00 Integrating GreenLake

GreenLake Integration and Service Expansion
- HPE’s GreenLake Cloud Console enables customers to expand their storage services easily, starting with block storage and adding more services like data protection or AI services as needed.
- GreenLake offers a scalable and flexible management platform for customers to adapt their hybrid cloud strategies.
Reimagining Enterprise Storage
- HPE’s shift from traditional SAN to a universal platform offers greater flexibility and efficiency.
- This approach caters to traditional IT workloads and modern cloud-native applications, meeting a wide range of enterprise needs.

34:00 -40:00 Wrap Up

Customer Success and Scalability
- Strong customer adoption of Alletra MP, especially among large enterprises looking to standardize on HPE’s platform.
- HPE’s system’s modularity allows for seamless scaling, whether for compute or storage, as customer needs evolve.
Future Innovation and Flexibility
- HPE continues to innovate with a robust roadmap, promising more functionality and scalability in the near future.
- The focus remains on future-proofing customer infrastructure and addressing dynamic, cloud-native workloads.

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