Pure Storage and CERN Partner to Advance Physics Research

Pure Storage has announced a new partnership with CERN, the European Laboratory for Particle Physics. The collaboration, part of the CERN openlab initiative, aims to accelerate the development of next-generation ICT solutions for the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).

CERN’s high-energy physics experiments produce massive volumes of data. Efficiently storing and analyzing this data is essential for ongoing scientific research. Traditional storage systems are struggling to keep up. To address this, Pure Storage will provide its DirectFlash technology, helping CERN transition from legacy hard disk drives to flash-based infrastructure.

The multi-year agreement will allow CERN openlab to test and measure the benefits of high-density flash storage. These solutions promise better performance, reduced energy consumption, and increased storage capacity.

Sustainability is a key part of CERN’s technology strategy. This partnership supports that goal. Pure Storage’s DirectFlash technology offers improved space and energy efficiency. This is expected to support CERN’s demanding HPC workloads while reducing their environmental footprint.

The collaboration will also focus on building scalable, exabyte-level infrastructure. This will help meet the increasing data demands of the High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC). Both organizations aim to improve storage and computing performance while enabling more efficient scientific workflows.

Rob Lee, CTO at Pure Storage, said the partnership will push the boundaries of high-performance computing. He noted that integrating Pure’s technology will help CERN manage unprecedented data volumes with greater speed and reliability.

Luca Mascetti, Storage CTO at CERN openlab, highlighted that the collaboration will help scale storage beyond current limits. He added that this work could accelerate discovery and set a new benchmark for scientific data storage worldwide.

The joint efforts are expected to benefit not only CERN but also the broader research community. By improving how data is stored, shared, and processed, the partnership supports future breakthroughs in physics and beyond.