NetApp says it has completed its acquisition of PEAK:AIO, a Manchester, UK-based software-defined AI storage company, as part of its effort to support larger AI workloads and zettabyte-scale file systems.
In an announcement dated November 4, 2026, NetApp (NASDAQ: NTAP) said the deal strengthens its “NetApp Novus” direction by combining what it described as PEAK:AIO’s metadata architecture and high-performance parallel file system capabilities with NetApp’s ONTAP data management platform.
Technology integration and intended storage scalability
NetApp said it plans to bring PEAK:AIO’s specialized metadata services and parallel namespace technology into ONTAP-based data architecture, aiming to support high concurrency and large namespace growth.
The company’s statement links the acquisition to AI infrastructure requirements, saying organizations need to keep GPU resources continuously supplied with data without bottlenecks. NetApp also described a “separation of metadata from data” approach intended to help performance scale out with concurrency.
Enterprise, resilience and “evolution path” for ONTAP customers
NetApp said the acquisition is expected to create an evolution path for existing ONTAP customers. The company pointed to potential new capabilities, including shared storage deployment and operation for larger AI environments, while preserving what it called enterprise-grade resilience, security, and operational simplicity.
NetApp did not provide product availability timelines in the announcement, and included standard cautionary language that statements about future offerings are subject to change and should not be relied upon for purchasing decisions.
Company comments on the deal
NetApp CEO George Kurian said, “AI infrastructure is reaching unprecedented scale, demanding a new approach to storage built from the ground up.” He added that combining PEAK:AIO’s metadata services and parallel namespace innovation with NetApp’s enterprise platform is intended to support a “next-generation, zettabyte-scale architecture” for AI clouds and GPU-as-a-service providers.
NetApp Chief Product Officer Syam Nair said the acquisition is intended to improve AI data pipeline throughput by separating metadata from data so performance scales with concurrency, and by using open standards rather than proprietary clients.
PEAK:AIO Chief Technology Officer and Founder Mark Klarzynski said the companies share a belief that AI-era data infrastructure needs to scale to extraordinary levels, and that the acquisition would pair PEAK:AIO’s innovation with NetApp’s customer reach and expertise.
Research and institutional deployments cited
NetApp said PEAK:AIO’s technology was designed to address demanding data-intensive computing challenges identified by research institutions including Los Alamos National Laboratory and Carnegie Mellon University.
In the same release, PEAK:AIO said its platform is deployed at institutions including Los Alamos National Laboratory, NHS AIDE, Oxford Robotics Institute, Carnegie Mellon University, University of Liverpool, University of Strathclyde MediForge Hub, and the Zoological Society of London.
The announcement also included forward-looking statements under the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, along with language disclaiming any obligation to update information.
