NetApp launches new EF-Series storage systems

Author: Joe Peck

NetApp, a US provider of data storage and cloud infrastructure management, has announced new additions to its EF-Series storage portfolio, designed for high-performance workloads across AI, high-performance computing (HPC), and transactional databases.

The latest models, EF50 and EF80, are intended to support increasing data demands in enterprise environments, including emerging applications such as sovereign AI clouds and AI-driven manufacturing.

The systems are designed to work with parallel file systems such as Lustre and BeeGFS, supporting HPC simulations and GPU-intensive workloads through high-performance scratch storage.

Performance and efficiency improvements

According to NetApp, the new systems deliver over 110GBps of read throughput and 55GBps of write throughput, representing a 250% increase compared to previous generations.

The systems also offer a power efficiency of 63.7GBps per kW, alongside storage density of up to 1.5PB within a 2U form factor. This is intended to support high-performance requirements while maintaining efficient rack usage.

The EF-Series is positioned to support a range of use cases, including AI development, media production workflows, and large-scale data processing, with built-in data protection features.

Clayton Vipond, Senior Solution Architect at CDW, says, “As we navigate the AI era, many enterprises are finding that they need to maximise their raw performance to extract the most value from their data.

“The refreshed NetApp EF-Series deliver the throughput and capacity businesses need to scale high-powered workloads that transform data into insights and outcomes.”

Simon Robinson, Principal Analyst at Omdia, adds, “By delivering a high-performance storage system that supports parallel file systems like Lustre and BeeGFS, NetApp is making its mark as emerging industries – such as neocloud – emerge to support the AI-Era.”

NetApp states that the EF-Series platform builds on its existing installed base, with more than one million deployments globally.

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