From the NetApp edition of November 8, 2026
ITdaily: Novus 100 TB/s figures come largely from NetApp and Omdia projections; practice has yet to prove them
ITdaily · Technology trade press · Europe (Belgium)
- Publisher
- ITdaily
- Original publication
- 29 September 2026
- Source retrieved
- 2026-11-09
What happened
ITdaily (29 September, newly relevant now that the PEAK:AIO deal has closed and 8 November coverage repeats NetApp's superlatives) reports NetApp's claim that Novus exceeds 100 TB/s and serves hundreds of thousands of GPUs. It says Omdia observed near-linear scaling as ONTAP clusters were added to a single namespace and, on that basis, expects up to 100 TB/s sequential read and tens of exabytes. The reporter concludes the throughput and scale figures come largely from NetApp and Omdia's projections, so practice has yet to prove them. NetApp says the first release uses Supermicro infrastructure with AFF A90 data nodes and is orderable, with software-defined deployment later.
Why it matters
Limited direct SLED relevance: Novus targets neoclouds and GPU-as-a-service providers. It is a caution for university research centers and public agencies that may see 100 TB/s claims in vendor pitches. Not deployment evidence.
Evidence and measured results
Opened the full article. Separates NetApp claims, Omdia projection and the reporter's caution; no independent measured benchmark, customer or SLED example is provided. Omdia's test scale is not stated.
Limitations and uncertainty
Single trade-press report; the test scale and workload behind Omdia's projection are not given; the figure is a projection of sequential reads, not a deployed or mixed-workload result; predates the acquisition close.
Put this evidence to work
Lighthouse Advisory interpretation, grounded in this source. Enriched 2026-11-08; this does not change the original publication date. Each role follows the same checklist so takeaways compare across sources.
Sales
Role takeaway
- Customer problem
- Buyers meet headline throughput claims without independent evidence at their scale.
- Stakeholders
- Research computing director
- CIO or CTO
- Procurement lead
- Storage manager
- Discovery questions
- What throughput and metadata rates do your AI jobs actually need?
- What evidence will you require before accepting a vendor throughput claim?
- Value hypothesis
- Evidence-based testing may reduce procurement risk; this source does not measure any customer benefit.
- Potential engagement
- A bounded proof-of-value test plan for an AI or research storage purchase.
- Unsupported claims
- Novus achieves 100 TB/s in production
- Any SLED customer benefit
- Superiority over other vendors
- Guaranteed GPU utilization gains
Pre-sales engineering
Role takeaway
- Fit
- Neocloud and very large AI file workloads; limited fit for typical SLED sizes.
- Architecture and integration
- Novus Data Director on qualified Supermicro servers with AFF A90 data nodes; standard NFS client access per NetApp.
- Prerequisites
- Client kernel, NIC and NFS version matrix
- Representative dataset and access pattern
- Network design for the storage fabric
- Constraints
- Only one configuration described
- Software-defined deployment is future
- Projected figure covers sequential reads only
- Security
- Multi-tenant and security features are vendor-asserted; verify identity, export policy and isolation on both tiers.
- Proof of value
- Sustained metadata-heavy small-file test
- Failure test of metadata and data tiers separately
- Tenant isolation check
Delivery
Role takeaway
- Work
- Define workloads, run the proof test, and decide on evidence.
- Dependencies
- NetApp test environment access
- Client images and network design
- Ownership
- Research computing with storage operations.
- Skills and adoption
- Staff need pNFS client tuning and a runbook covering two failure domains.
- Governance checkpoints
- Test plan approval
- Go/no-go review on measured results
- Acceptance criteria
- Sustained throughput and metadata rates meet agreed thresholds on the customer workload (proposal)
- Recovery from single-tier failure without client remount (proposal)
- Risks
- Buying on projected figures
- Unclear failure behavior across tiers
- Software-defined option not yet available
Implementation considerations
Lighthouse Advisory interpretation across the operating dimensions a public-sector buyer must settle before this evidence becomes a design. Each note answers the question under its heading for this specific source.
Architecture and integration
What must connect, and where does the AI sit in the workflow?
Metadata is separated from the data path using standard NFS; a software-defined option is described as future, so current deployments depend on the specific hardware configuration.
Governance
Who approves, reviews and stays accountable for outcomes?
Require audited test conditions and sustained results in any bid that cites 100 TB/s.
Security and privacy
What data, permissions and controls need testing?
The article says little about security; multi-tenant and security features are asserted by NetApp without testing detail.
Accessibility and workforce
Who is affected, and what skills or accommodations follow?
No evidence on skills or staffing.
Procurement
What should contracts, pricing and exit terms secure?
Treat 100 TB/s as a design target when evaluating bids; ask for audited node count, client count, file-size mix and sustained throughput.
Operating model
Which teams own the service once it runs?
Separate metadata and data tiers would add operational components; the article does not discuss operations.
Publication history
- 2026-11-08NetApp · Issue 102 resources
Stable resource ID: itdaily-netapp-novus-100-tbs-figures-from-netapp-and-omdia-projections-20260929