As enterprises seek to unify their data infrastructure to power diverse workloads from virtualization to artificial intelligence, NetApp has announced a significant deepening of its collaboration with Google Cloud. The enhancements to Google Cloud NetApp Volumes introduce critical new capabilities, including block storage support and advanced integration with Google's Gemini Enterprise AI. These updates are designed to help customers break down data silos, eliminate complexity, and accelerate their cloud transformation and AI innovation by providing a unified, intelligent data foundation.
Quick Intel
NetApp enhances Google Cloud NetApp Volumes with new block storage capabilities.
The update provides unified file and block storage for VMs and databases.
New integration allows data in NetApp Volumes to be a native source for Gemini Enterprise AI.
FlexCache capabilities create a unified global namespace across hybrid cloud environments.
The enhancements aim to eliminate data silos and simplify data management for AI.
These capabilities provide consistent performance and operational simplicity.
Unifying Data for Enterprise and AI Workloads
A key advancement is the addition of block capabilities to the NetApp Volumes service. The Flex service level now supports both NAS (NFS/SMB) and SAN (iSCSI) protocols, creating a truly unified storage solution. This opens new opportunities for enterprises to run critical business applications like virtualized environments and self-managed databases directly on Google Cloud, benefiting from enterprise-grade data management features such as snapshots and replication without added complexity.
“With the enhancements to Google Cloud NetApp Volumes, including the addition of block storage capabilities, we’re giving enterprises more flexibility and power, without added complexity,” said Pravjit Tiwana, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Cloud Storage and Services at NetApp. “These updates represent a significant leap forward. Our customers will benefit from consistent low-latency performance, enhanced data management... and the operational simplicity of managing both file and block storage all from the NetApp Volumes service.”
Accelerating AI with a Unified Data Foundation
The collaboration strengthens the bridge between data and AI. A new integration with Gemini Enterprise allows data stored in NetApp Volumes to serve as a native source for building bespoke AI agents without the need for custom code or complex RAG pipelines. This tight coupling ensures AI models can incorporate context-specific data from reputable, vetted sources, significantly improving the quality and reliability of AI-generated outputs. Furthermore, new FlexCache capabilities create a unified global namespace, allowing a customer's entire hybrid cloud data estate—spanning on-premises and multiple clouds—to be seamlessly and instantly accessible within Google Cloud, with data transferred only when requested.
“Our collaboration with NetApp is built on a shared commitment to innovation and customer success,” said Sameet Agarwal, Vice President and General Manager, Storage, for Google Cloud. “By combining Google Cloud’s global infrastructure and Vertex AI with NetApp’s expertise in data management, we’re delivering integrated solutions that help enterprises transform and accelerate their digital journeys.”
By providing a unified, intelligent data infrastructure natively within Google Cloud, NetApp is enabling organizations to securely access their entire data estate without the delays and costs of data movement. This foundational approach is critical for accelerating digital transformation and empowering a new wave of AI-driven innovation.
For more than three decades, NetApp has helped the world’s leading organizations navigate change – from the rise of enterprise storage to the intelligent era defined by data and AI. Today, NetApp is the Intelligent Data Infrastructure company, helping customers turn data into a catalyst for innovation, resilience, and growth.
At the heart of that infrastructure is the NetApp data platform – the unified, enterprise-grade, intelligent foundation that connects, protects, and activates data across every cloud, workload, and environment. Built on the proven power of NetApp ONTAP, our leading data management software and OS, and enhanced by automation through the AI Data Engine and AFX, it delivers observability, resilience, and intelligence at scale.
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