For Commvault Flex Appliance, the architecture is intentionally simple and consists of six primary building blocks.
1. Flex Nodes (Compute Layer)
These are the Commvault-certified Dell, HPE, or Lenovo servers running VaultOS and Commvault software services.
Each Flex node includes the following packages:
- File System Core
- File System
- Virtual Server
- Storage Pool
- Cloud Apps
- Content Extractor
- MediaAgent
- Storage Accelerator
- Threat Analysis
Flex requires a minimum of two nodes for resiliency and can scale out by adding additional nodes.
2. VaultOS
VaultOS is Commvault's hardened Linux-based operating system that provides:
- Secure platform foundation.
- Simplified deployment.
- Standardized management.
- Integrated updates and lifecycle management.
3. Commvault Data Services
Flex Appliance consolidates several Commvault roles into the platform.
| Service | Function |
|---|---|
| MediaAgent | Backup and recovery data movement |
| Access Node | Virtualization and application access |
| Threat Analysis | Ransomware and anomaly detection |
| Storage Accelerator | Performance optimization for backup storage |
These services run directly on the Flex Appliance nodes.
4. Storage Accelerator Layer
The Storage Accelerator is installed on supported client machines and provides the high-performance data path between protected workloads and the external S3 object storage platform.
Depending on the network design:
- Clients may write directly to S3 using Storage Accelerator when the S3 target is reachable.
- Data may flow through the Flex node and then to S3.
- Hybrid deployments can leverage both methods simultaneously.
The Storage Accelerator helps maximize throughput while reducing bottlenecks in large-scale environments.
5. External S3 Object Storage
Unlike Commvault Grid or Edge, Flex does not use internal storage for backup data.
Instead, it leverages certified external object storage platforms such as:
- Pure Storage FlashBlade E/S
- VAST Data
- NetApp StorageGRID
- HPE X10000
- Hitachi VSP One Object
Key characteristics include:
- Multi-petabyte scalability.
- Immutable storage support.
- Independent scaling of storage from compute.
- All-flash or high-performance object storage architectures.
6. High-Speed Network Fabric
The high-speed network fabric exists within the customer environment.
The Flex architecture relies on a dedicated high-bandwidth network connecting:
- Protected workloads.
- Flex nodes.
- S3 object storage.
Typical designs use:
- 100GbE (default in Flex nodes).
- 25GbE (optional with breakout cables or additional network cards; not included by default).
This network is critical to achieving the performance and recovery objectives that Flex is designed to deliver.
Key Differentiator
The defining characteristic of Flex is that compute and storage are completely decoupled:
- Flex nodes provide Commvault processing, data movement, and Threat Analysis services.
- External S3 storage provides capacity and immutability.
- Both layers can scale independently.
This allows customers to achieve petabyte-scale capacity, extreme backup and recovery performance, and AI-ready architectures without being constrained by appliance storage limits.
Flex consists of certified VaultOS-based Flex nodes, a Storage Accelerator data path, certified external S3 object storage, and a high-speed network fabric that together provide a scalable, immutable, petabyte-scale data protection platform.