Green computing in focus: how flash storage is changing the data center landscape

Enterprises are under increasing pressure to align their IT infrastructure with sustainability goals as environmental concerns and energy costs escalate.

Data centers, often seen as energy guzzlers, are a key focus in the push toward green computing. Ramanujam Komanduri, Country Manager at Pure Storage India, highlights how flash-based storage is helping organizations cut energy use, reduce emissions, and minimize e-waste—without compromising performance. In this conversation with Dataquest, he outlines how Pure Storage is embedding sustainability into the core of its technology and operations.

How is Pure Storage integrating sustainability into its storage solutions, and what impact does it have on reducing carbon footprints in data centers?

At Pure Storage, sustainability isn’t an afterthought - it’s built into our technology and design philosophy. Our tightly integrated software and hardware deliver unmatched efficiency, longevity, and density while continually driving further optimizations over time. 

More than eighty percent of the data storage in use today rely on  70-year-old technology — antiquated and massively inefficient magnetic hard disk drives.  These mechanical spinning disks are comparable to cathode ray televisions or incandescent bulbs which were phased out long ago. 

Pure Storage pioneered the use of flash storage in mission-critical enterprise environments 15 years ago. Most consumers will be familiar with flash storage as it is widely used in laptops and mobile phones today. Flash is more performant, more reliable and longer lasting than mechanical disks.

More importantly, Flash based data storage systems use about 90% less power and require 94% less space in data centres.  We estimate that transitioning from disk to flash will yield substantial energy savings by 20% or more.  

There are other ways our solutions and business models help the environment. We designed our products to not only store the same data in less physical space than competitive equipment but are also built to last 10 years and beyond with modular, non-disruptive upgrades. This all helps to minimize e-waste. 

How does flash storage enhance energy efficiency, and how does Pure Storage balance performance with sustainability?

Legacy spinning disk storage is inherently inefficient due to its mechanical components, which consume more power, generate excess heat, and require intensive cooling.

Flash storage eliminates these mechanical limitations, leading to significant improvements in energy efficiency.

Pure Storage's DirectFlash technology enhances these benefits by providing direct access to raw flash memory, bypassing the inefficiencies of traditional SSD architectures. Unlike commodity SSDs that emulate HDD behavior, DirectFlash Modules (DFMs) enable the storage system to manage flash media directly, resulting in lower latency and higher throughput.

This design reduces unnecessary overhead, leading to more efficient data processing and improved performance. 

This efficiency translates into smaller data center footprints, reduced power consumption, and significantly lower cooling requirements. Additionally, DFMs offer up to 20 times greater reliability compared to HDDs, contributing to lower maintenance costs and enhanced system longevity.

By integrating DirectFlash technology, Pure Storage provides a storage solution that not only delivers superior performance but also aligns with sustainability goals through reduced energy usage and operational costs

Can you share any specific innovations at Pure Storage that have helped enterprises achieve their green computing goals?

Pure Storage is helping businesses significantly reduce energy use, shrink their data center footprint, and move closer to their sustainability goals.

Take Virgin Media O2, for example. By switching to Pure’s all-flash solutions, they cut power consumption by a staggering 98%. That’s a game-changer—not just for lowering costs but for making real progress toward their net-zero emissions target. Replacing inefficient legacy storage with Pure’s energy-efficient architecture helped them shrink their carbon footprint while maintaining top-tier performance.

The Taiwan Ministry of Economic Affairs saw similar benefits. They faced growing concerns over energy consumption and limited data center space. After adopting Pure Storage, they reduced their storage rack space by 98% and power usage by 84%. This shift not only solved their immediate challenges but also aligned with their long-term sustainability plans by eliminating unnecessary energy waste.

In India too, we have customers who have adopted Pure technology and have significantly reduced their data-center footprint and reduced their power consumption too. Even in comparison with other SSD based offerings in the industry, we are far more efficient and contribute to the organization’s sustainability goals.

What are Pure Storage’s long-term sustainability commitments, and how do you see green storage evolving in the next five years?

We’ve set clear goals, including cutting the use-phase emissions of our products by 66% per effective petabyte by FY30 and achieving net-zero Scope 1 and 2 emissions by FY40. We’re also working toward a 50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions per employee by FY30, ensuring that we’re minimizing our own environmental impact while helping customers do the same.

Looking ahead, I see three big shifts shaping the future of green storage: