Pure Storage FlashArray for AWS Outposts Now Supports Boot Volumes

Today, we’re excited to announce an enhancement to Pure Storage® FlashArray™ for AWS Outposts with expanded support for boot volumes. Building on our announcement with AWS last year, enterprises can now boot Amazon EC2 instances directly from Pure Storage FlashArray, unlocking migration of workloads that rely on external boot volumes.

This enhancement eliminates another barrier to hybrid cloud adoption, enabling organizations to leverage their existing Pure Storage investments for both boot and data volumes while gaining the operational simplicity and cloud-native capabilities of AWS Outposts.

Building on Pure Storage FlashArray for AWS Outposts

Last year, Pure Storage and AWS introduced Pure Storage FlashArray for AWS Outposts, providing a new pathway to the cloud from on-premises virtualized workloads. The initial integration enabled customers to attach data volumes backed by Pure Storage FlashArray directly to Amazon EC2 instances through the familiar AWS Management Console, delivering:

• Enterprise-grade performance with microsecond latency and industry-leading all-flash storage
• Operational efficiency through unified management via AWS tooling
• Cost optimization with advanced data reduction technology from Pure Storage
• Enterprise resilience with built-in security features like SafeMode™ Snapshots

The response from enterprise customers has been overwhelmingly positive, with organizations successfully modernizing their hybrid infrastructure while maintaining the performance, reliability, and data protection capabilities they depend on from Pure Storage.

Why Boot Volume Support Matters for Enterprise Migration and Workload Mobility

Complete Workload Migration Made Simple

The addition of boot volume support represents a critical milestone for enterprise hybrid cloud migrations. Previously, organizations with workloads tightly coupled to external storage arrays faced complex migration scenarios when moving to AWS Outposts. Boot volume integration eliminates this friction by enabling:

• Seamless legacy migration: Enterprises can now migrate existing applications that rely on external boot volumes directly to AWS Outposts without architectural changes or complex re-platforming efforts.
• Unified storage management: IT teams can leverage their existing Pure Storage management workflows, snapshots, and replication capabilities for both boot and data volumes, maintaining operational consistency across their hybrid infrastructure.
• Enhanced business continuity: Advanced Pure Storage features like SafeMode Snapshots and replication now extend to boot volumes, providing comprehensive data protection and disaster recovery capabilities for complete workloads. This provides a fully streamlined approach to disaster recovery by allowing consistent application and operating system data protection using Pure Storage FlashArray replication technologies such as ActiveDR™ between FlashArray systems with corresponding AWS Outposts or into AWS itself via Pure Storage Cloud for AWS as the data target.

How Pure Storage Boot Volumes Work with AWS Outposts

AWS has developed two distinct methods for boot volume integration, both fully supported by Pure Storage FlashArray:

SANboot: Direct Boot from Pure Storage FlashArray

SANboot enables EC2 instances to boot directly from volumes stored on Pure Storage FlashArray using iPXE and the iSCSI protocol. This method provides:

• Direct storage access: Read/write operations are performed directly on Pure Storage FlashArray.
• Persistent storage: Data and changes remain on Pure Storage even when instances are shut down.
• Advanced storage features: It provides full access to Pure Storage snapshots, replication, and data services.

Localboot: Hydrated Local Storage

Localboot copies boot volumes from Pure Storage FlashArray to local instance storage during the boot process. This method offers:

• Local access: Boot volumes run from local NVMe storage.
• Source protection: Original source volumes on Pure Storage remain unchanged.
• Flexible deployment: It’s suitable for development, testing, and temporary workload scenarios.
• Data volume integration: External data volumes can still be mounted for persistent storage needs.

Supported Configurations

Both boot methods support:

• AWS Outposts Racks (42U) with connectivity via Local Gateway (LGW)
• AWS Outposts Servers (2U) with connectivity via Local Network Interface (LNI)
• Flexible networking: iSCSI and NVMe-over-TCP protocols

For complete technical details and implementation guidance, see AWS’s comprehensive boot volume documentation.

Getting Started with Pure Storage Boot Volumes on AWS Outposts

Pure Storage FlashArray for AWS Outposts with boot volume support delivers the complete hybrid cloud solution enterprises need to modernize their infrastructure without compromising on performance, reliability, or operational efficiency. By extending Pure Storage enterprise-grade capabilities to include both boot and data volumes on AWS Outposts, organizations can accelerate migration timelines, reduce complexity, and unlock the full potential of hybrid cloud architectures.

Ready to get started? Contact Pure Storage sales to begin planning your implementation.

Learn more about the technical implementation details in AWS’s latest boot volume announcement and explore how Pure Storage can accelerate your hybrid cloud journey.