Corrections and Clarifications on HPE Cloud Computing and Nimble Storage Technologies

The author publishes this post to correct several inaccuracies from a previous article about Nimble Storage, thanking readers for pointing out the errors and emphasizing the importance of accurate technical information.

Regarding HPE cloud computing, the article notes that several years ago HP offered a broad range of private, hosted, virtual private, public, and hybrid cloud solutions supporting IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS, but HPE's cloud strategy has been unstable; the Cloud System reference architecture was based on HP's converged infrastructure and targeted private and hybrid clouds, yet it lacked market impact and was eventually abandoned.

In May 2014 HP launched the Helion brand, featuring Helion OpenStack and the Stackato solution (acquired from ActiveState) to compete in the public cloud market. However, after SUSE acquired HPE's OpenStack and Cloud Foundry assets, HPE began offering public‑cloud services via an OEM partnership with SUSE, while its global cloud presence continued to shrink, leaving only the China‑based H3C as a significant player.

The Nimble Storage clarification explains that the AF9000 flash and CS7000 hybrid storage systems support scale‑out with up to four dual‑controller nodes. The CS series includes CS1000/1000H, CS3000, CS5000, and CS7000 (including Scale‑Out CS7000). These systems support data compression, online deduplication on the AF series, and use a unified flash fabric (UFA) architecture. The Infosight cloud management platform provides full lifecycle data management, application binding, real‑time monitoring, resource visualization, and predictive analytics.

Nimble Storage also integrates with cloud providers via OpenStack, offering Flash Storage for Cinder, Swift, and Glance, and delivers cloud storage services to Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure. The Nimble Cloud Volumes solution enables seamless data migration between on‑premises flash arrays and public clouds.

The article concludes by offering two free resources: a downloadable HP Cloud System reference architecture for deeper understanding of HP cloud designs, and an "Amazon Cloud Service Analysis" document available by replying "Amazon" to the public account. Readers are encouraged to follow the account for more technical content.