Flexible and powerful block storage now available in Google Cloud NetApp Volumes, along with even greater AI integration for enterprise transformation
NetApp® (NASDAQ:NTAP), the Intelligent Data Infrastructure company, today announced that it has deepened its collaboration with Google Cloud to help customers accelerate cloud transformation and address critical business challenges. New block storage capabilities in Google Cloud NetApp Volumes enhance unified storage for today's most important data workloads, including virtualized environments, self-managed databases, and AI innovation.
The NetApp data platform enables any Al model—whether on-premises or in any major public cloud—to securely access a customer's entire data estate, without needing to move data between environments. New integrated caching capabilities in Google Cloud NetApp Volumes allow for seamless access to that unified data foundation, along with advanced new integrations with Gemini Enterprise, empowering customers to break down silos, eliminate complexity, and accelerate their AI journeys.
"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 with features like snapshots and replication, and the operational simplicity of managing both file and block storage all from the NetApp Volumes service."
New capabilities in NetApp Volumes include:
- Increased Data Unification with Block Capabilities: With the addition of block capabilities to NetApp Volumes, the Flex service level now supports unified storage with both the NAS (NFS/SMB) and SAN (iSCSI) protocols. Adding iSCSI block support to the existing file storage service opens additional market opportunities for enterprises to use Google Cloud for their enterprise business applications, such as hosting virtualized environments and managing databases. This capability is now generally available to customers upon request.
- Strengthened Integration with Gemini Enterprise: Customers can now use data stored in NetApp Volumes as a native source for AI Applications to build bespoke AI agents without custom code or RAG pipelines. The tight integration between AI platforms like AI Applications and data stores like NetApp Volumes enables enterprises to incorporate context-specific data from reputable, vetted sources, which significantly improves the quality and reliability of AI-generated outputs. This is now in preview for customers upon request.
- Enhanced Unified Global Namespace: Enterprises can now seamlessly unify their global data estate across cloud and on-premises into Google Cloud with new FlexCache capabilities in NetApp Volumes. The same capability can also extend their on-premises workloads such as Electronic Design Automation. This allows for data stored in other ONTAP-based storage in customer data centers or across multiple clouds to be instantly made visible and writeable in a NetApp Volumes environment, but with data transferred granularly only when requested. This allows for a customer's entire hybrid cloud data estate to be seamlessly accessed in Google Cloud. Additionally, enterprises can migrate data and snapshots effortlessly between environments using SnapMirror, supporting hybrid use cases such as cloud migration, disaster recovery, and workload balancing across environments.
"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. "Data infrastructure with built-in intelligence enables businesses to get the right data to the right place to generate useful results without unnecessary cost and complexity. 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."
"With the accelerating pace of change and innovation, enterprises need unified access to all of their data wherever it lives," said Dave McCarthy, Research Vice President, Cloud and Edge Services, Worldwide Infrastructure Research at IDC. "NetApp's data platform is the first unified storage built natively into the world's largest public clouds, enabling enterprises to securely access their entire data estate, without incurring delays and costs from data movement."
To learn about the full set of new capabilities in Google Cloud NetApp Volumes and other updates across the NetApp portfolio, visit: https://www.netapp.com/product-updates
At NetApp INSIGHT 2025 in Las Vegas, October 14–16, NetApp will present sessions and demos, showcasing how it is driving transformation across industries. Tune in to the keynote sessions at: https://www.netapp.com/insight/
Additional Resources
- AI Adoption with Google Cloud NetApp Volumes
- Unblock your Cloud Transformation with Google Cloud NetApp Volumes
About NetApp
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.
Disaggregated by design, the NetApp data platform separates storage, services, and control so enterprises can modernize faster, scale efficiently, and innovate without lock-in. As the only enterprise storage platform natively embedded in the world's largest clouds, it gives organizations the freedom to run any workload anywhere with consistent performance, governance, and protection.
With NetApp, data is always ready – ready to defend against threats, ready to power AI, and ready to drive the next breakthrough. That's why the world's most forward-thinking enterprises trust NetApp to turn intelligence into advantage.
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