DataDirect Networks is partnering with BlueArc to expand its enterprise solutions. The deal will offer a joint, total-workflow storage solution for visual special effects (VFX), and rendering, to be demonstrated at the IBC 2010 exhibition in Europe. By combining efforts, DDN and BlueArc are able to bring a high-performance storage platform for companies, with an emphasis on speed and scalability.

It’s BlueArc’s SiliconFS family of storage platforms that will be utilized for interoperability with DDN’s Silicon Storage Architecture. The idea being improved data transfer rates to and from BlueArc and DDN, over NFS, for the optimization of a client’s workflow needs. This promotes data integrity, even in the event of disaster recovery, without affecting its performance.

Addressing these needs has been a focal point for many cloud companies in the past, with a number of partnerships within the industry seeking to address growing consumer needs. This deal in particular is interesting for DDN, as it looks to leverage its position as a nimble company. BlueArc subsequently is growing its industry relations, carving a place for itself with high performance NAS. Dave Vellante of Wikibon.org notes the strong points of the BlueArc and DDN partnership:

“DDN is a specialty storage company with roots in the high performance computing arena. It has architected a system with a proprietary deep pipeline that allows it to render very high speed storage for video and other rich media applications.

“The company initially has tucked into a niche but its market is now exploding as high end video and even cloud applications are coming right into its sweet spot. The combination of BlueArc and DDN will be formidable in emerging markets.”

With DDN having set its sights on well-paced growth from the beginning, the company has landed a spot on Inc. Magazine’s 2010 Inc. 5000. The publication has named DDN as one of the fastest growing private data infrastructure providers, with an overall ranking of 3702 out of the 5000 companies included on the list. This serves as validation for the DDN efforts, and will make future partnerships more viable as the cloud industry continues to expand. HP, for example is one of DDN’s other recently announced partners.