NetApp has acquired DataPelago, a California-based AI data infrastructure company. The acquisition extends NetApp’s data infrastructure portfolio with GPU-accelerated processing capabilities that operate at the storage layer, reducing the need to move enterprise data into separate compute environments before it can be used for AI and analytics workloads.
DataPelago’s core technology, Nucleus, is a universal data processing engine that leverages diverse CPU and GPU resources directly on data in place. Instead of transferring data from operational systems to separate analytics or AI clusters, Nucleus employs software-defined acceleration, keeping the data where it is stored. This zero-copy method addresses a key challenge in enterprise AI deployment by reducing costs, latency, governance issues, and infrastructure overhead caused by data movement.
DataPelago reports that Nucleus can cut infrastructure costs by as much as 80% and boost processing speed up to 10 times, compared to traditional architectures that separate storage and compute. These benefits vary based on workload and deployment setup, but the core strategy reflects a wider industry trend to bring computing closer to the data.
The technology allows NetApp to integrate data preparation and processing directly into its storage and data management platform. The company sees the acquisition as a way to help enterprises activate governed data for AI, improve GPU resource use, and enhance AI models. Fragmented data environments can lead to expensive accelerator infrastructure sitting idle while waiting for data pipelines, copies, transformations, and transfers instead of running model training or inference.
Following the acquisition, DataPelago operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of NetApp. Its engineering team and Nucleus technology are expected to bolster NetApp’s strategy in both on-premises and cloud data environments, where customers increasingly demand integrated data management and high-performance AI infrastructure.
The acquisition continues NetApp’s strategy of ecosystem partnerships with Cisco, Google Cloud, Red Hat, and SK Telecom. Bringing DataPelago into the fold enables NetApp to have a more direct role in AI data processing, especially for organizations aiming to minimize data transfers between storage systems, GPU clusters, and AI platforms.