Navigating the Flash Crisis: Why Architectural Flexibility Wins in 2026

In this upcoming session, we’ll examine the forces driving extreme flash price volatility and the real impact it has on AI and HPC storage strategies. Using real-world examples, we’ll explore how architectural choices affect long-term cost, performance and flexibility, especially as NAND shortages and AI demand continue to reshape the market. The discussion will focus on how organizations can meet GPU performance requirements without locking themselves into costly all-flash architectures.

Attendees will gain insight into:

• How flash market dynamics are driving sustained price volatility.
• The cost implications of different storage architectures in AI and HPC environments.
• Why separating performance from capacity improves resilience and flexibility.
• How mixed flash and HDD tiers can maintain GPU feed rates and low-latency access.
• What infrastructure leaders should consider when planning storage investments during market uncertainty.

Whether you’re supporting AI training, HPC workloads or data-intensive federal missions, this session will provide a practical framework for navigating flash volatility while maintaining performance at scale.