StoneFly named one of the 50 Coolest Software-Defined Storage Vendors of 2026.
For the fifth time, CRN has recognized StoneFly for delivering ransomware-resilient, hardware-agnostic storage that enterprise IT teams trust — powered by patented Air-Gapped Vault® technology and the 8th-generation StoneFusion® operating system.
View the full list on CRN.com →
Software-defined storage, built for the enterprise reality of 2026.
Ransomware. AI workloads. Post-VMware migration. Budget pressure. StoneFly engineered an SDS platform that addresses all four — without forcing a hardware rip-and-replace.
Patented Air-Gapped Vault®
Automated, policy-driven air-gap isolation and immutability — ransomware can't reach what isn't connected.
StoneFusion® 8th-Gen OS
Turn any bare-metal or virtual server into enterprise SAN, NAS, and S3 object storage — one OS, one license.
Hardware-Agnostic
Deploy on your existing x86 infrastructure or StoneFly appliances. No forced hardware refresh, no vendor lock-in.
Hybrid & Multi-Cloud
Native integration with AWS, Azure, and StoneFly Private Cloud — one pane of glass across on-prem and cloud.
The 2026 Software-Defined Storage Buyer's Checklist.
Before you sign another SDS contract, read what enterprise IT teams are demanding in 2026. The 12 criteria CRN, DCIG, and independent analysts use to separate real software-defined storage from rebranded hardware.
- The 12 must-have criteria for evaluating SDS vendors
- Ransomware resilience checklist — what "immutable" actually means
- Questions to ask vendors about AI workload support
- Hidden lock-in costs to identify in RFP responses
- Side-by-side comparison framework for final shortlists
Get the Buyer's Guide
https://stonefly.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/StoneFly-2026-SDS-Buyers-Guide.pdf
Two decades of enterprise storage innovation.
Recognition from CRN reflects what our enterprise customers already know — storage in 2026 has to do three things at once: survive ransomware, handle AI-scale workloads, and not lock you into a single vendor's hardware. That's exactly what Air-Gapped Vault and StoneFusion were built for.
The engineering history behind five consecutive recognitions.
From introducing the iSCSI storage protocol in 2002 to earning the 2026 CRN Storage 100 recognition — a timeline of the decisions that shaped the platform enterprise IT teams trust today.
Why StoneFly Made the CRN 2026 Storage 100
A concise breakdown of the technology, track record, and innovation that earned StoneFly recognition as one of the 50 Coolest Software-Defined Storage Vendors of 2026. One page. Share it with your team or use it in your next vendor review.
The same SDS platform powers all of it.
Backup, DR, production storage, AI pipelines, long-term archive — one operating system, one management interface, one vendor.
Air-Gapped Backup & DR
Automated air-gap isolation with immutable snapshots. Recover from ransomware events without paying and without data loss.
- Patented Air-Gapped Vault®
- Immutable WORM storage
- Veeam, Rubrik, Commvault Ready
AI Storage Infrastructure
High-throughput unified storage for model training, inference, and data lakes — without the cost of all-flash rip-and-replace.
- Unified SAN, NAS, S3 object
- Petabyte-scale architecture
- GPU-optimized data paths
Hyperconverged Infrastructure
Compute and storage on one appliance. A proven VMware alternative with Proxmox, Hyper-V, and KVM support.
- Multi-hypervisor support
- Integrated data protection
- Scale-out architecture
Private & Hybrid Cloud
Enterprise-grade S3 object storage on-premises with seamless cloud tiering to AWS, Azure, or StoneFly cloud.
- S3-compatible object storage
- Cloud gateway & tiering
- Multi-cloud data mobility
Microsoft 365 & SaaS Backup
Protect Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Salesforce, and other SaaS data with the same air-gapped infrastructure.
- Microsoft 365 backup
- Google Workspace protection
- Salesforce data protection
Compliance Archive
Long-term retention that satisfies SEC 17a-4, FINRA, HIPAA, and GDPR — with immutable WORM storage built in.
- SEC 17a-4 compliant WORM
- HIPAA & GDPR ready
- Chain-of-custody audit logs
Certified across the enterprise ecosystem.
StoneFly integrates with the virtualization, backup, cloud, and compliance platforms your team already runs.
Virtualization
Backup & DR
Cloud
Compliance
Ready to see what CRN-recognized SDS looks like in your environment?
Book a 30-minute technical demo. A StoneFly solutions engineer will walk through Air-Gapped Vault, StoneFusion, and the specific use case you're solving — VMware alternative, ransomware recovery, AI storage, or hybrid cloud.
Request Your Demo
A solutions engineer will reach out within one business day.