45Drives has announced a strategic partnership with LINBIT to deliver integrated high-availability storage solutions that combine open hardware with proven software-defined storage technology. The collaboration brings LINBIT's DRBD and LINSTOR software into 45Drives' hardware ecosystem, enabling real-time block-level replication and automated storage provisioning for enterprise environments. This partnership addresses the growing demand for transparent, reliable storage infrastructure without the traditional cost and complexity barriers of proprietary systems.
Dr. Doug Milburn, President of 45Drives, emphasized the shared commitment to open infrastructure, stating that LINBIT's decades of experience in Linux-based storage align perfectly with 45Drives' mission of making enterprise storage open and understandable. LINBIT, founded by Philipp Reisner who began DRBD development as his master's thesis in 1999, brings proven technology deployed by major organizations including Apple, IBM, and Amazon, with over 40 million downloads worldwide. The company maintains global support with 24x7x365 coverage and a 1-hour emergency SLA through their website at https://www.linbit.com.
For customers, the integration means turnkey access to high-availability clustered storage architectures with certified hardware-software compatibility, resilient data protection through synchronous replication, and scalable deployments across bare metal, virtualized, or containerized environments. The solution offers complete transparency throughout the storage stack while eliminating vendor lock-in concerns. Philipp Reisner, CEO of LINBIT, noted that 45Drives' approach to hardware and customer support complements the robust, production-grade deployments that LINBIT's software was designed to support.
This collaboration represents a significant shift in the enterprise storage market, traditionally dominated by closed systems that prioritize margins over transparency. The partnership enables organizations to rethink what's possible with open infrastructure while maintaining enterprise-grade reliability and support standards. The 45Drives-LINBIT partnership offers businesses, institutions, and creators an alternative that provides complete infrastructure control, long-term cost predictability, and access to deep technical expertise without the limitations of proprietary solutions. More information about 45Drives' open-source storage solutions is available at https://www.45drives.com.
