Benchmarks

• MinIO's Multi-Protocol Attack: Valid Architecture Argument, Zero Evidence

  MinIO claims multi-protocol storage is fundamentally broken for AI workloads, that translation layers kill GPU utilization, and that only 'object-native' design scales. The architectural argument has merit. The evidence does not exist. We analyze what MinIO gets right, what they conveniently omit, and why this blog post is marketing dressed as engineering.

• Pure Storage's Recovery Speed Claims: Real Numbers, Missing Context

  Pure Storage publishes actual database recovery benchmarks — 60 TB/hr for Oracle RMAN, 113 TB/hr aggregate for SQL Server — and argues that recovery speed, not backup speed, defines data protection. The numbers are plausible. The thesis is correct. But the methodology gaps and missing comparisons leave important questions unanswered.

• NetApp AFX's 'Parallel File System Performance' Claims: The Benchmark They Won't Submit

  NetApp claims AFX delivers 'all the performance benefits of parallel file systems' while refusing to submit to IO500—the industry standard benchmark for parallel file system performance. Here's why that matters.

• VAST Data's '29x Data Reduction' Claims: The Storage Industry's Most Brazen Lies

  VAST Data's co-founder claims customers see 8x to 29x capacity advantages versus HDFS. We expose the fraudulent math, the deliberate straw man, and why VAST has become the storage industry's most prolific source of misleading claims.

• Pure Storage's FlashBlade//EXA '10 TB/sec' Claim: When Vague Numbers Replace Real Benchmarks

  Pure Storage claims FlashBlade//EXA delivers 'more than 10 TB/sec' read performance. We analyze why this vague claim tells us almost nothing about real-world performance.

• VAST Data's 99.9991% Uptime and 10x Kafka Claims: The New Standard for Unverifiable Marketing

  VAST Data claims 99.9991% measured uptime (4.7 minutes downtime per year) and 10x performance advantage over Kafka. We analyze what these numbers actually mean and why they're nearly impossible to verify.

• MinIO ExaPOD: Credible Architecture, Questions on Methodology

  MinIO's exabyte-scale reference architecture makes defensible claims backed by historical benchmarks. We examine what's verifiable, what needs more transparency, and how the commodity approach compares to appliance vendors.

• Pure Storage FlashBlade//EXA: Verified Benchmarks vs. Marketing Claims

  Pure Storage submits to STAC-M3 auditing—a credible approach. But claims of '30% better than competitors' and '10 TB/s from early testing' deserve the same scrutiny applied to any vendor.

• VAST DataBase Benchmarks: The Numbers We Can't Verify

  VAST Data claims 25% faster than Iceberg, 60x faster updates, and 500M messages per second. The numbers are impressive—but without published methodology or independent verification, they remain marketing claims, not engineering data.

• Weka's SPECstorage Records: How Benchmark Transparency Should Work

  Weka set #1 rankings across all five SPECstorage 2020 workloads in January 2025. More importantly, the results are independently audited and publicly verifiable—the standard every vendor should meet.