"Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness." So goes the quote attributed to Oscar Wilde and it's appropriate for this episode where we are joined by Rich Barlow, Principal Technologist at Pure who previously worked at several other storage vendors, most notably as Field CTO. Rich dives into his perspectives after nearly a year at Pure and aspects of Pure that stand out compared to other storage vendors. We dive into Pure's architecture and what is enabled by Evergreen, Direct Flash Modules, and how NDU designed from the start cannot be matched by other storage providers. He shares what he's observed about our engineering philosophy where good ideas supersede hierarchy and the notion that "the best part is no part." Finally, we touch on operations and culture and the impact of simplicity in operation and Evergreen//One. For more info on Pure Storage and the Future of Storage: https://www.purestorage.com/enable/modern-data-storage.html