45Drives and LINBIT Partner to Deliver Enterprise-Ready Open Storage Solutions
The strategic partnership between 45Drives and LINBIT combines open hardware with proven software-defined storage technology to provide businesses with highly available clustered storage solutions that eliminate vendor lock-in and reduce complexity.
45Drives has announced a strategic partnership with LINBIT to deliver fully integrated, high-availability server solutions for demanding enterprise environments. The collaboration merges 45Drives' open hardware and support model with LINBIT's software-defined storage stack, bringing clustered storage capabilities to businesses without the traditional cost and complexity barriers of proprietary systems.
Dr. Doug Milburn, President of 45Drives, emphasized the shared mission of both companies: "We believe enterprise storage should be open, understandable, and built for the long haul. LINBIT has been advancing that same mission in the Linux software world for more than two decades. Their work on DRBD and LINSTOR has set the standard for open-source block-level replication and storage orchestration."
The partnership integrates LINBIT's core technologies, particularly DRBD and LINSTOR, into 45Drives' hardware ecosystem. DRBD enables real-time block-level replication between nodes, forming the backbone of high-availability clusters, while LINSTOR automates storage provisioning in clustered environments, supporting bare metal, virtual machines, and Kubernetes-native deployments.
For customers, this collaboration provides turnkey access to high-availability clustered storage architectures built on proven open-source tools. The certified integration of LINBIT software with 45Drives hardware is backed by expert support, offering resilient data protection through synchronous replication and failover capabilities. Customers gain scalable deployment options across bare metal, virtualized, or containerized environments while maintaining freedom from vendor lock-in with complete transparency into every layer of the stack.
Philipp Reisner, CEO of LINBIT, noted the complementary nature of the partnership: "We're excited to collaborate with 45Drives because they bring our open storage tools to life in the real world. Their approach to hardware and customer support is a perfect match for the kind of robust, production-grade deployments our software was built for." LINBIT, founded by Reisner who originally started DRBD development in 1999 as his master's thesis, has grown into one of the most trusted names in Linux-based storage, with software deployed by organizations ranging from small businesses to global giants like Apple, IBM, and Amazon, and downloaded over 40 million times.
This partnership represents a significant shift in enterprise storage solutions, challenging the market dominance of closed systems that prioritize margin over transparency. By combining open hardware with open software, the collaboration offers customers complete control of their infrastructure, long-term cost predictability, and access to deep technical expertise without traditional vendor constraints. The alliance supports 45Drives' broader mission to make open hardware, open software, and open thinking the foundation of modern enterprise IT infrastructure.