Chocolate Meets Peanut Butter: Blurring the Lines Between Block and Object Storage

This week we sit down with Field Solution Architects Anthony Nocentino and Justin Emerson explore an interesting convergence happening in data architecture—the blending of traditionally separate block and file/object storage systems. Likening the experience to a Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup, Anthony (a database expert focused on block storage) and Justin (an expert in unstructured data and file/object storage) discuss how the clear historical distinctions between structured and unstructured data are rapidly blurring. This shift is fueled by modern challenges like high-scale analytics, data governance, and the rise of technologies like Large Language Models (LLMs) and agentic interactions, which no longer care where the data lives. Our conversation dives into the technical tipping point enabled by data virtualization, referencing features like SQL Server 2022's object integration, which allows a database engine to access data stored efficiently on object storage. This capability is far more than an archival play; it helps customers achieve scale-out analytics, improve data governance by maintaining one canonical copy of data across different performance buckets, and simplify tedious operations like SQL backups by bypassing legacy file system complexities. Anthony and Justin highlight how Everpure’s platform aligns perfectly with this new reality. Finally, Anthony and Justin discuss the path forward, noting that the technology is underutilized due to organizational silos and an awareness problem. The next big evolution will focus on security and governance for this distributed data via open table formats like Iceberg and catalogs such as Polaris. We close with what currently excites them: Anthony on collaborating with AI (Claude) to create code and speed up outcomes, and Justin on Everpure’s core philosophy of simplicity, efficiency, and treating customers like people, particularly in the context of the current economic conditions. To learn more, visit: https://www.everpuredata.com/platform.html Check out the new Everpure digital customer community to join the conversation with peers and Pure experts: https://purecommunity.purestorage.com/ 00:00 Intro and Career Journeys 04:30 Customer Engagement and SKO 09:55 Vacation Recap 13:45 History of Block and Object Storage 16:04 Why Convergence Now? 20:30 Data Virtualization 25:55 Exploring Access Patterns 29:05 What’s Holding Back Adoption 36:02 Simplicity for DBAs