DataDirect Networks (DDN) is a global leader in high-performance data storage and management solutions engineered for data-intensive environments. The company’s core mission is to provide innovative, scalable, and reliable storage infrastructure that accelerates insights and outcomes for organizations focused on AI, Big Data, and high-performance computing (HPC). DDN aims to empower the brightest minds in science, industry, and technology with the tools required to solve complex data challenges.
DataDirect Networks’ primary goal is to deliver cutting-edge technology that drives performance and efficiency for its clients. The company invests significantly in research and development to maintain its leadership in essential technologies for accelerated computing. A key objective for DDN is to support a wide range of demanding use cases, from autonomous driving and financial services to healthcare and academic research. This is evident in its solutions that power many of the world’s top supercomputers.
Offerings, Capabilities, and Integrations
DataDirect Networks (DDN) provides high-performance data storage and management solutions engineered for data-intensive environments. Its offerings are designed to handle the massive data sets associated with artificial intelligence (AI), deep learning, high-performance computing (HPC), and big data analytics. DataDirect Networks’ core capabilities lie in delivering scalable, high-throughput, and low-latency storage infrastructure that enables organizations to accelerate their data processing and time to insight. The company’s systems are built to support the entire data lifecycle, from capture and processing to analysis and archiving. This end-to-end approach, combined with deep technical expertise, gives DataDirect Networks a competitive edge in markets where performance and reliability are critical. Its reputation is built on providing robust and efficient solutions for complex, large-scale data challenges. A key aspect of its strategy is the seamless integration with leading technologies, notably with NVIDIA’s GPU architectures, including DGX SuperPODs, which is crucial for AI and machine learning workloads.
Products and Services
DataDirect Networks offers a portfolio of hardware and software solutions designed for data-intensive workloads. Its products provide data management, network-attached storage, block data storage, and object storage. The company’s flagship product line is EXAScaler, a parallel file system designed for HPC, AI, and analytics workloads that require high scalability and performance. Another key offering is its A³I (Accelerated, Any-Scale AI) solutions, which are optimized for AI workflows and integrate with NVIDIA DGX systems.
- EXAScaler: A high-performance parallel file system that provides scalable and dependable performance for data-intensive workflows on-premise and in the cloud.
- A³I Solutions: AI-optimized intelligent infrastructure designed to streamline data management for AI applications, developed in collaboration with NVIDIA.
- Infinia: A newer software-defined storage product designed for AI model development and HPC, initially released as an S3 object store with a parallel file system to follow.
- AI400X3: An upgraded storage system offering enhanced speed and integration with NVIDIA’s GPU architectures for enterprise AI deployments.
- SFA (Storage Fusion Architecture): High-performance block storage platforms available in flash, hybrid, and disk configurations, capable of delivering millions of IOPS.
- IntelliFlash: An intelligent hybrid flash array that optimizes the ratio of SSDs and HDDs to deliver consistent performance for enterprise applications and virtualized environments.
- Tintri: All-flash NVMe storage arrays designed for enterprise and virtualized environments, acquired by DDN.
- DirectMon: A management software that provides a single point of view for managing a complete data center of DDN products.
Target Customers
DataDirect Networks targets organizations with massive and complex data storage needs. Its customer base spans various data-intensive industries, including scientific research, government and defense, financial services, healthcare and life sciences, media and entertainment, and manufacturing. The company serves large enterprises, cloud service providers, universities, and government agencies. These customers are often engaged in cutting-edge work in fields like genomics, seismic processing, AI model training, and high-resolution content creation.
Target customers benefit from DataDirect Networks’ solutions by being able to manage and process vast amounts of data at high speeds, which is essential for their demanding applications. For research institutions and HPC users, this translates to faster research and discovery. Financial services firms leverage the high performance for rapid trade and risk analysis. In the media and entertainment sector, DDN’s storage enables efficient production and broadcasting of high-resolution content. For enterprises adopting AI, the company’s solutions provide the necessary infrastructure to train complex models and gain insights from their data more quickly.
Cloud Integrations and Marketplaces
DataDirect Networks (DDN) provides cloud integrations and has a presence on the major cloud marketplaces, enabling hybrid and multi-cloud flexibility for AI and data-intensive workloads. The company’s data intelligence platform is designed to integrate with cloud service providers like AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure.
- Microsoft Azure
DataDirect Networks offers its EXAScaler Cloud solution on the Microsoft Azure Marketplace. This offering is a cloud-native deployment of DDN’s parallel file system, based on Lustre, and is designed for AI, analytics, and high-performance computing (HPC) workloads in the cloud. It allows for on-demand deployment in Azure to scale high-performance data analysis and supports hybrid deployments by enabling automated data migration between on-premises data centers and the cloud.
- Amazon Web Services (AWS)
DataDirect Networks has a presence on the AWS Marketplace through its subsidiary, Nexenta. The available offerings are NexentaCloud in AWS for use with NexentaFusion and a Bring Your Own License (BYOL) edition. These solutions deliver unified file (NFS and SMB) and block (iSCSI) storage services based on the NexentaStor platform.
- Google Cloud
DataDirect Networks has a notable presence on the Google Cloud Marketplace and a partnership with Google Cloud.
- DDN Infinia is available on the Google Cloud Marketplace and is described as an AI-native data intelligence platform optimized for AI inference, analytics, and model preparation.
- DDN EXAScaler Cloud is also offered on the Google Cloud Marketplace to enhance data processing for public cloud environments.
- Google Cloud Managed Lustre is a fully managed, cloud-native parallel file system powered by DDN’s EXAScaler technology. It is integrated into the Google Cloud console to support AI, machine learning, and HPC workloads.
Key People
- Chief Executive Officer & Co-founder: Alex Bouzari
- President & Co-founder: Paul Bloch
- Chief Financial Officer: Ian Angelo
- Chief Marketing Officer: Jyothi Swaroop
- Chief Product Officer: Omer Asad
- Chief Technology Officer: Sven Oehme
- EVP, Engineering: Bret Weber
- SVP, EXA: Anil Virmani
- SVP, Infinia: Omar Orqueda
- SVP Technical Support & Professional Services: Stephen Burke
- SVP, Americas Sales & Channels: Joe Corvaia
- SVP Sales, International: Robert Triendl
Key Facts
- Headquarters: Chatsworth, California, United States.
- Number of Employees: Approximately 1,220.
- Annual Revenue: Approximately $750 million.
- Parent Company: None.
- Subsidiary Companies: Tintri, Nexenta, IntelliFlash, and Whamcloud.
- Publicly Listed: No.
Analyst Recognition
DataDirect Networks is recognized by Gartner and IDC in specific technology categories.
- Gartner: DataDirect Networks was positioned as a “Niche Player” in the 2020 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Distributed File Systems and Object Storage. Previously, Gartner had named DataDirect Networks a “Challenger” in the 2014 Magic Quadrant for General Purpose Disk Arrays.
- IDC: In a 2016 report, IDC MarketScape recognized DataDirect Networks as a leader in object storage. DataDirect Networks was also included as a vendor in the IDC MarketScape for Worldwide Scale-Out File-Based Storage in 2019.
There is no indication that DataDirect Networks has been featured in recent Forrester Wave or Everest Group PEAK Matrix reports for relevant market segments.
