Collaboration delivers OpenShift-based platforms without legacy SAN cost and rigidity for large-scale AI deployment
Lightbits Labs, the inventor of the NVMe over TCP storage protocol, today announced that Coredge, a leading cloud solutions provider, has selected Lightbits software-defined storage to power next-generation AI cloud services. Following its recent acquisition by Sirius Digitech, Coredge is scaling its platforms to support large-scale AI adoption across regulated industries, telecommunications providers, and public-sector entities worldwide. This collaboration is intended to establish a multi-petabyte-scale, cloud-native infrastructure deployment in India to support Coredge’s rapidly expanding footprint without the high cost and rigidity of legacy SAN architectures.
Founded in 2020, Coredge builds and operates cloud-native platforms that enable organizations to deploy and manage AI, Kubernetes, and OpenShift workloads. Its sovereign OpenShift-based Kubernetes cloud infrastructure is optimized for performance-sensitive use cases, including AI training and inference, real-time analytics, and mission-critical enterprise applications as configured and governed by customer-specific and regulatory requirements. To support a large-scale deployment expansion in India, Coredge required a storage architecture capable of delivering consistent, low-latency, high-throughput, and elastic scalability while integrating seamlessly with its OpenShift-based Kubernetes environments.
Key Insights at a Glance
- NVMe/TCP Architecture: Lightbits delivers high-performance block storage over standard Ethernet without specialized networking fabrics, enabling predictable low latency and high throughput for AI workloads.
- Multi-Petabyte Scale: The collaboration establishes large-scale cloud-native infrastructure in India to support Coredge’s expanding footprint across regulated industries and telecommunications.
- OpenShift Integration: Seamless compatibility with OpenShift and Kubernetes enables Coredge to streamline operations and accelerate time-to-market for new services.
- TCO Reduction: Leveraging commodity hardware, standard Ethernet networks, and thin provisioning reduces total cost of ownership at scale compared to legacy SAN and proprietary appliances.
Solving the AI Storage Performance Challenge
AI workloads demand far more than raw storage capacity; they require predictable low latency and consistent performance at scale. Traditional storage architectures introduce cost, operational complexity, and scaling constraints that conflict with cloud-native design principles. Coredge evaluated legacy SAN and proprietary appliance-based storage but found them incompatible with its operational strategy. “AI workloads demand far more than raw capacity—they require predictable low latency and consistent performance at scale,” said Abhimanyu Bhatter, Co-Founder and Associate Vice President of Technology at Coredge. “Lightbits enables us to grow our business by delivering highly performant, premium services using open, software-defined, NVMe-based infrastructure that aligns with our operational strategy.” By deploying Lightbits, Coredge gains the ability to deliver high-performance block storage over standard Ethernet, without the specialized networking fabrics that increase cost and complexity.
Technical Advantages for Cloud-Native AI Platforms
Coredge’s selection of Lightbits was driven by specific technical capabilities essential for its OpenShift-based Kubernetes environments. The NVMe/TCP-direct architecture delivers predictable low latency and high throughput for performance-sensitive AI training and inference workloads. Built-in data protection and compatibility with modern backup and recovery solutions, such as Veeam Kasten, enhance resiliency while fast snapshots enable speedier recovery to meet stringent availability, durability, and compliance requirements. The solution’s seamless integrations with OpenShift and Kubernetes enable Coredge to streamline operations and accelerate time-to-market for new services. “Lightbits provides the speed and predictability required for the latency-sensitive workloads run on Coredge’s platforms, while at the same time providing Coredge the ability to scale on commodity infrastructure cost-efficiently,” added Keimpe Paulus, Vice President and EMEA Territory Lead at Lightbits Labs.
Economic Advantages at Scale
Beyond technical performance, the Lightbits architecture delivers compelling economic advantages for Coredge’s large-scale deployment. By leveraging commodity hardware and standard Ethernet networks, Coredge avoids the premium pricing and vendor lock-in associated with proprietary SAN solutions. Thin provisioning services further reduce storage costs by allocating capacity efficiently across the multi-petabyte environment. This approach aligns with Coredge’s mission to simplify the complexity of modern cloud-native and AI environments while making them deployable wherever data and workloads must reside—on-premises, in private or sovereign clouds, in partner data centers, and at the edge—without vendor lock-in. As Coredge expands its AI and cloud services globally, Lightbits will play a central role in supporting scalable, secure, and high-performance data infrastructure that meets the specific governance requirements of regulated industries and public-sector entities.
Future Outlook
Coredge’s selection of Lightbits for its India deployment reflects broader trends in AI infrastructure as organizations seek alternatives to traditional storage architectures. The combination of OpenShift-based Kubernetes platforms with NVMe/TCP software-defined storage creates a foundation for AI workloads that require both performance and sovereignty. For regulated industries and public-sector entities, the ability to deploy AI infrastructure that meets governance requirements while avoiding vendor lock-in represents a significant competitive advantage. As Coredge scales its footprint globally, the multi-petabyte India deployment will serve as a reference architecture for future expansions. The collaboration also validates Lightbits’ approach to delivering enterprise-grade block storage on commodity infrastructure, positioning the company for continued growth as AI workloads proliferate across telecommunications, government, and enterprise environments.
Conclusion
Coredge’s selection of Lightbits to power its AI cloud services infrastructure brings NVMe/TCP performance and cloud-native economics to OpenShift-based Kubernetes platforms. By delivering predictable low latency, high throughput, and elastic scalability over standard Ethernet, Lightbits enables Coredge to support performance-sensitive AI workloads without the cost and rigidity of legacy SAN architectures. For organizations deploying AI across regulated industries and public-sector environments, this collaboration demonstrates a viable path to sovereign, scalable infrastructure.
Source link: https://www.businesswire.com/
