Research Notes
Research Note: Microsoft Azure Maia 200 Inference Accelerator
Microsoft recently announced its second-generation custom AI accelerator, the Maia 200. The new chip is an inference-optimized alternative to third-party GPUs in its Azure infrastructure. The company says the accelerator delivers 30% better performance per dollar than existing Azure hardware while supporting OpenAI’s GPT-5.2 models and Microsoft’s own synthetic data generation workloads.
Research Note: Commvault Unified Data Vault, S3-Compatible Protection for Modern Workloads
Commvault recently announced its Commvault Cloud Unified Data Vault, a cloud-native service that extends its air-gapped protection capabilities to data written using the S3 protocol. The service provides an S3-compatible endpoint that applies policy-driven protection to S3-based workloads without requiring agent installation or custom integration work.
Research Note: WD Innovation Day
Western Digital’s February 2026 Innovation Day showed a company fundamentally transformed from its legacy PC-centric storage roots into a critical AI infrastructure provider. The presentations unveiled breakthrough innovations that challenge long-held assumptions about hard drive technology limits.
Research Note: Veeam Acquires Object First, Consolidating Its Backup Appliance Strategy
Veeam recently confirmed its acquisition earlier this month of Object First, an immutable backup storage appliance vendor founded by Veeam’s original co-founders Ratmir Timashev and Andrei Baronov in 2022.
The transaction resolves a strategic conflict where Veeam competed directly with Object First’s Ootbi appliance while simultaneously offering its own Veeam Software Appliance for backup storage. The acquisition provides Veeam with purpose-built hardware capabilities to complement its software-first strategy.
Research Note: HPE’s New Networking & Compute (NRF 2026)
At the recent NRF 2026 in New York, HPE expanded its retail-focused infrastructure portfolio with new networking and compute capabilities intended for always-on retail environments. The announcements emphasize tighter integration between edge networking, cloud-native AI operations, and fault-tolerant compute to support transaction continuity, operational visibility, and distributed retail services.
Research Note: CrowdStrike’s Shopping Spree, Acquires SGNL and Seraphic
CrowdStrike announced two strategic acquisitions in January 2026 that extend its Falcon platform into browser runtime security and continuous identity authorization. The company acquired SGNL for $740 million and Seraphic Security for an undisclosed amount, with both transactions expected to close in Q1 FY2027.
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