This, according to the company, is the first truly unified block and file platform built from the ground up with unified as its goal.

Allowing block and file storage to access a flexible global pool of resources eliminates the need for pre-planning storage growth ("storage Tetris"), while a unified policy management system reduces administration time.

All common use cases are supported, including VMware and NFS data stores, user directories and profiles, content repositories, data protection, and backup.

The global storage pools allows administrators to use storage as needed across block and file workloads, with non-disruptive, on-the-fly expansion and unlimited file system sizes.

File Services for FlashArray also provides direct support for VM storage. VM-Aware Storage is claimed to be another industry first, providing deeper visibility at the granularity of the virtual machine and giving administrators access to VM-level statistics, snapshots, quotas, and policies.

This means that VM storage – including snapshots – can be managed by policy rather than manually, its efficiency is improved thanks to global rather than local deduplication, and removal of file system size limits removes the need to move VMs as they grow.

Previous multi-protocol architectures have been "a bit of a bolt-on solution," Pure Storage vice president and APJ CTO Mark Jobbins told iTWire. whereas the "first truly unified block and file storage" experience delivered by File Services for FlashArray provides what customers want, including ease of use, optimisation for all-flash storage, the elimination of artificial limits, capex and opex savings, as well as futureproofing thanks to Pure's Evergreen architecture that allows non-disruptive upgrades.

Pure customers "don't have to buy anything" in order to use File Services for FlashArray, he said as it is part of the next release of the Purity OS which will run on all recent Pure hardware. The majority of customers – including all of those on Evergreen//One or Evergree//Forever plans — will be able to benefit from the innovation.

"We believe this will be very welcomed by our customers in Australia and New Zealand, many of whom will be able to benefit immediately once they upgrade to the latest version of the Purity operating system, all non-disruptively! For organisations on legacy storage infrastructure, it makes perfect sense to start thinking of Pure as an alternative," said Jobbins.

Pure Storage vice president and FlashArray general manager Shawn Hansen said “The legacy unified storage market has been held back by the inflexibility and cost of decades-old architectures. It’s time for a new way: We’re excited to introduce the first truly unified block and file storage platform, built from the ground up for modern simplicity and the ability to evolve with customers."

An online launch event is being held on 27 April