PetaSAN
PetaSAN is a Cairo-based software-defined storage platform built on the Ceph engine that delivers enterprise block, file, and object storage on standard hardware, distributed globally through channel partners under a freemium and paid support subscription model.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded-
- HeadquartersCairo, Egypt
- Headcount—
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What PetaSAN does
PetaSAN is a software-defined storage platform built on the open-source Ceph storage engine, providing block, file, and object storage on standard x86 hardware. The product exposes Ceph's iSCSI block, CephFS, RADOS, S3-compatible object, NFS, and OpenStack Cinder interfaces, and is positioned as a hyper-converged infrastructure solution that combines storage, compute, and virtualization in a single deployable platform. The current generation, PetaSAN 2.0, is built on Ceph BlueStore and integrates with ecosystem components such as Consul, Gluster, and the LIO iSCSI target, while providing automated self-healing for disk failures, node failures, and rebalancing.
The company operates from Cairo, Egypt, with channel partners in Brazil, Canada, Germany, Italy, the United States, and Vietnam that handle local sales, deployment, and support. Distribution is via a free PetaSAN Community Edition combined with two paid subscription tiers—the Basic plan at $27 per node per month and the Extended plan at $62 per node per month—together with consultation and professional services revenue. Customer references cited include Provision Data Systems, UBX Cloud, and a German Public Datacenter for Libraries, with the company referencing "hundreds" of production deployments and one customer reporting an 83% cost reduction versus prior proprietary storage.
The commercial moat rests on hardware cost economics (no proprietary appliance tax), freedom from vendor lock-in through Ceph's open formats, and a self-healing architecture that reduces operational overhead relative to a manual Ceph installation. Constraints on the business include lack of disclosed revenue, headcount, or funding; absence of AI/ML differentiated features; limited brand awareness outside open-source storage circles; and dependence on a small partner network for international scale.
PetaSAN firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- PetaSAN
- Legal name
- PetaSAN
- Website
- https://petasan.com
- Company type
- Private
- Operating status
- Operating
- Short description
- PetaSAN is a Cairo-based software-defined storage platform built on the Ceph engine that delivers enterprise block, file, and object storage on standard hardware, distributed globally through channel partners under a freemium and paid support subscription model.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
PetaSAN industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Software-Defined Storage
- NAICS
- Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518)
- SIC
- Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Storage Virtualization & Software-Defined Storage (SDS) (HDABAEAF)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Storage Networking (Fibre Channel, iSCSI, NVMe-oF) (HDABAEAG)
Keywords
Where PetaSAN is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Cairo
- HQ country
- Egypt
- HQ region
- Africa
Markets served
PetaSAN business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Open Source Platform (Self-Support): PetaSAN is an open source storage platform which can be used free of charge via a self-support model. This serves as a lead-generation funnel for paid support.
- Professional Support Services: Paid professional support straight from the PetaSAN team with two tiers: Basic (8x5 hours, $27/node/month) and Extended (24x7 hours, $62/node/month). Includes web portal access, remote desktop support, and ticket allocation.
- Consultation Services: Infrastructure design consultation, network architecture planning, and hardware selection guidance from experienced engineers to help customers build optimal storage infrastructure.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Basic Support - Entry-level professional support |
| Subscription | Annual | Extended Support - Premium 24/7 support |
| Freemium | Pay-as-you-go | Open Source Self-Support |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels4 records
PetaSAN product offering
Product offeringCore offering
PetaSAN is a software-defined storage (SDS) platform built on the Ceph storage engine that delivers a SAN infrastructure for modern datacenter environments. It provides high-performance active/active iSCSI block devices with scale-out architecture, enabling elastic expansion and contraction of storage capacity on standard commodity hardware. The core open-source platform is offered free of charge under a self-support model, with paid Basic and Extended professional support plans and expert consultation services for infrastructure design and hardware selection.
Product overview
PetaSAN is a single unified Software Defined Storage (SDS) platform built on the Ceph storage engine. The core product is PetaSAN (including its PetaSAN 2.0 major version with Ceph Bluestore), which provides high-performance, scale-out block storage via iSCSI for virtualization workloads. The offering extends beyond the open-source platform through professional support plans (Basic at $27/node/month and Extended at $62/node/month) and consultation services for infrastructure design and hardware selection. PetaSAN is optimized for VMWare and Hyper-V virtualization environments.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- PetaSAN Platform
Quantifiable outcome
- 83% storage cost reduction using standard hardware vs proprietary systems
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use PetaSAN
Customer profileNamed customers4 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
PetaSAN technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration2 records
Feature7 records
PetaSAN partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered regional.
- Konnecta TI TecnologiaregionalBrazilian channel partner located in Joinville, Santa Catarina. Provides local sales and support for PetaSAN products in the Brazilian market.
- 45 DrivesregionalCanadian partner based in Sydney, Nova Scotia. Hardware partner providing storage solutions integrated with PetaSAN software.
- EUROstorregionalGerman storage solutions provider based in Filderstadt. Offers PetaSAN products as part of their enterprise storage portfolio.
- ITS AGregionalGerman IT solutions provider based in Goldbach. Provides sales and implementation services for PetaSAN solutions.
- ServerschmiederegionalGerman server and storage solutions provider based in Kirchberg. Offers PetaSAN as part of their product portfolio.
- Starline Computer GmbHregionalGerman computer and storage solutions provider based in Kirchheim unter Teck. Provides PetaSAN solutions to enterprise customers.
- ITCarMatregionalItalian IT solutions provider based in Sestu. Offers PetaSAN storage solutions to customers in the Italian market.
- ITSERVICENETregionalItalian IT services provider based in Caprino Veronese. Provides PetaSAN sales and support services.
- CorsinvestregionalItalian IT solutions company based in Calcinato. Offers PetaSAN as part of their storage and infrastructure portfolio.
- UBX Cloud, Inc.regionalUS-based cloud solutions provider headquartered in Madison Heights, Michigan. Cloud specialist with expertise in Ceph, OpenStack, and PetaSAN implementation.
- International Distribution Corporation (IDB)regionalVietnamese distribution partner based in Ho Chi Minh City. Provides PetaSAN products to customers across Vietnam.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves4 records
Expansion highlights4 records
PetaSAN competitors and assessment
Company assessmentEmerging players
- 45Drives: Canadian hardware vendor that is also a PetaSAN channel partner. Builds storage servers running Ceph and partners with PetaSAN; represents both a partner and adjacent competitor selling Ceph-based storage solutions in the Canadian/North American market.
- TrueNAS (iXsystems): Open-source storage platform with commercial support offerings (TrueNAS Enterprise). Competes in the open-source-friendly SDS space with a similar freemium-to-paid support model targeting virtualization and small-to-mid enterprise deployments.
Direct peers
- Open-E: Storage software vendor offering SDS solutions (Open-E DSS, Open-E JovianDSS) targeting enterprise iSCSI and virtualization workloads. Comparable size and target market to PetaSAN in the SMB/mid-market storage software category.
- Scality: Object and file storage software vendor offering RING and ARTESCA SDS products. Competes in software-defined storage, particularly for large-scale and cloud-provider deployments with comparable software-only delivery model.
- DataCore Software: Software-defined storage and data services platform with SANsymphony product. A long-standing SDS competitor focused on enterprise block storage virtualization and pooling across heterogeneous storage hardware.
- Red Hat Ceph Storage: Red Hat's commercial distribution and support for Ceph storage. The most direct peer since PetaSAN is also built on Ceph; Red Hat offers the same underlying technology with enterprise support from a much larger vendor with deep enterprise reach.
- StarWind Software: Software-defined storage vendor offering SAN and hyperconverged solutions targeting similar VMware/Hyper-V use cases. A direct competitor of comparable size, focused on iSCSI and block storage virtualization for SMB and mid-market.
- SUSE Enterprise Storage: SUSE's commercial Ceph-based storage offering with subscription support. Directly comparable Ceph-based SDS solution competing for the same enterprise customers, with the Linux distribution pedigree similar in spirit to PetaSAN's open-source model.
Broad incumbents
- Nutanix: Hyperconverged infrastructure vendor offering integrated compute+storage+virtualization. Competes with PetaSAN for enterprise virtualization storage budgets as a broader platform play rather than standalone storage.
- VMware vSAN: Hypervisor-native software-defined storage bundled with VMware vSphere. Largest incumbent in the SDS-for-virtualization category PetaSAN targets; competes via tight platform integration rather than as a standalone SDS offering.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
PetaSAN financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
PetaSAN leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
PetaSAN funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
PetaSAN M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about PetaSAN
What does PetaSAN do?
PetaSAN is a software-defined storage (SDS) platform built on the Ceph storage engine that delivers a SAN infrastructure for modern datacenter environments. It provides high-performance active/active iSCSI block devices with scale-out architecture, enabling elastic expansion and contraction of storage capacity on standard commodity hardware. The core open-source platform is offered free of charge under a self-support model, with paid Basic and Extended professional support plans and expert consultation services for infrastructure design and hardware selection.
Is PetaSAN a public or private company?
PetaSAN is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was PetaSAN founded?
PetaSAN was founded in -1.
Where is PetaSAN based?
PetaSAN is headquartered in Cairo, Egypt, in the Africa region.
How does PetaSAN make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Open Source Platform (Self-Support) is the primary driver. The others are professional Support Services and consultation Services.
Who are PetaSAN's main competitors?
Emerging players on record are 45Drives and TrueNAS (iXsystems). Direct peers are Open-E, Scality, DataCore Software, Red Hat Ceph Storage, StarWind Software and SUSE Enterprise Storage. Broad incumbents are Nutanix and VMware vSAN.
Does PetaSAN have an API?
No public API is recorded for PetaSAN.
What industry is PetaSAN in?
PetaSAN's product category is Software-Defined Storage. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDABAEAF, Storage Virtualization & Software-Defined Storage (SDS), with a secondary code of HDABAEAG, Storage Networking (Fibre Channel, iSCSI, NVMe-oF). Its NAICS code is 518 and its SIC code is 7370.