Predictika · AI and HPC storage quotes

An AI sales agent's DDN EXAScaler quote, checked before it goes out

An AI sales agent prepares a quote for DDN, the AI and HPC data storage company: EXAScaler and AI400X2 appliances (ES200X2, ES400X2, AI400X2, ES400X2T, AI400X2T) with NVMe drives, SE2420 QLC flash and SS9012 disk expansion enclosures, on an InfiniBand or Ethernet host fabric, with the EXAScaler SW Subscription, Hot Pools, S3 and NFS/SMB data services and a hardware support plan, in racks with a power budget, for a term of one, three or five years. Before it goes out, the agent sends it to Predictika, which checks it against a declarative model of the limits DDN publishes and returns a verdict, every reason, a line-item quote and the figures it computed.

Scope: DDN EXAScaler quotes: ES200X2, ES400X2, AI400X2, ES400X2T and AI400X2T appliances with NVMe drives, SE2420 QLC and SS9012 HDD expansion enclosures, InfiniBand HDR/HDR100 or 200/100GbE host fabric, EXAScaler SW Subscription, Hot Pools and data services, hardware support, racks and power, for any appliance count on a 1-, 3- or 5-year term. See everything this validator covers

This validator models DDN EXAScaler and AI400X2 storage quotes as described in the public DDN datasheets, not just the scenarios shown below.

  • Appliances — EXAScaler ES200X2 (4 host ports), ES400X2 and AI400X2 (8 host ports), ES400X2T and AI400X2T (16 host ports), each with 24 NVMe bays, in any quantity.
  • Expansion — SE2420 QLC NVMe enclosures (24 SSDs of 15.36, 30.72 or 61.44 TB, up to 5 per appliance, up to 5 PB of QLC flash per rack) and SS9012 SAS enclosures (90 drives, up to 10 per appliance, 900 drives).
  • Fabric — HDR or HDR100 InfiniBand, or 200 or 100GbE Ethernet, with the ports cabled, the cables and the free switch ports on the client network.
  • Software and support — the EXAScaler SW Subscription (per raw capacity, Call Home required, expansions co-termed to the base subscription), Hot Pools for the HDD tier, S3 and NFS/SMB data services, and the DDN hardware support plans (Standard, Customer Self-Maintenance, Onsite Basic, Onsite Premium).
  • What the validator checks — ports against the model, cables and switch ports against the ports cabled, fabric against the client network, NVMe bays and the 8+2 pool minimum, enclosure limits, QLC flash per rack, Hot Pools for HDD, rack space, power, hardware support, Call Home, co-terming, the term, and that the stated total, read throughput and raw capacity match the computed ones.
  • Approvals — a five-year term, a total above $20 million, a production system without Onsite Premium support, and a rack power budget more than 90 percent used go to a person.

Any DDN EXAScaler or AI400X2 quote that touches these appliances, enclosures, fabrics and plans is in scope — not only the scenarios pictured here. Not covered: Infinia, Tintri VMstore, DDN Hot Nodes, the Kubernetes CSI driver, other platforms such as the AI400X3, installation services, taxes and negotiated discounts. DDN publishes no prices, so every price on this page is illustrative.

The AI sales agentBuilds the DDN quote from the conversation with the customer and says it is ready.
Predictika validatorChecks every rule at once and returns the verdict, each finding, and the computed figures.

6 scenarios in 3 groups · each group runs from the agent’s first attempt to the outcome · click one to switch

What the agent proposes

The AI sales agent says

Illustrative agent statement. The validator receives the structured request below.

Proposing agent: AI sales agent (scripted)

Before sending, the agent must call Recorded run

Predictika validator


      

        
        
        
      

      
Waiting for the call.

      
    

  

  
  

    
Where rules-based CPQ gets it wrong
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Our assessment of what a typical rules-based CPQ (product rules, price rules and validation rules, as in Salesforce CPQ) does with the same cases. It is a judgment about effort and reliability, not a claim that nothing can be built.

    
What the validator caughtTypical rules-based CPQPredictika
Totals that roll up across appliances and racksOnly with workarounds
QLC flash per rack, rack units and power are sums over every appliance and enclosure divided across the racks; a CPQ validation rule sees one line at a time, so each roll-up is a summary field that someone builds and keeps in step.		The quantities are facts in the request and every roll-up is computed and checked in one pass.
Expansion limits per applianceOnly with care
Five SE2420 enclosures and ten SS9012 enclosures per appliance are simple caps, but they apply per appliance, not per quote line, so the rule has to count appliance by appliance.		Each cap is compared with the enclosures quoted per appliance.
Fabric, ports, cables and switch portsOnly with workarounds
The host-port count depends on the model, the cables and switch ports depend on the ports cabled, and the fabric has to match the client network; that is a chain of dependent product rules with a field for each fact.		Ports, cables, switch ports and fabric family are facts in the request and are checked against the model together.
Expansion co-termed to the base subscriptionOnly with care
CPQ amendments co-term to the contract end date by design, but a rule that refuses a term longer than the base subscription needs the remaining years in a field that somebody keeps current.		The remaining years of the base subscription are an input and the term is compared with them.
Stated total, read throughput and raw capacityOnly with workarounds
A quote document carries figures that were typed or generated outside the rules; nothing compares a throughput or a raw capacity in a quote with what the quoted parts give.		Each stated figure is a field in the request and is compared with the computed one.
Every problem returned in one answerOnly with workarounds
Rules tend to fire as the quote is saved or a step is completed, so a rep often fixes one error and meets the next.		All findings come back together, whatever order the choices arrived in.

  

  

    
What this validator catches: findings from its test cases
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Every rule is checked on every call, in any order the choices arrive; one problem never hides another. Blocking findings stop the quote; approval findings need a person to sign off; everything else is computed.

    
1The quote cables 5 host ports on each appliance, and this model has 4 host ports.
2The quote cables 1 host ports on each appliance; both active/active controllers need at least one port, so at least 2.
3The client network is not the same kind of fabric as the host ports quoted on the appliances; the appliances offer HDR/HDR100 InfiniBand or 200/100GbE Ethernet, and the clients must be on the same one.
4The quote has 31 cables, and 4 appliances with 8 ports cabled each need 32.
5The client fabric has 31 free switch ports, and the appliances need 32 ports.
6The quote has 25 NVMe drives in each appliance, and each appliance has 24 NVMe bays.
7The quote has 9 NVMe drives in each appliance; the 8+2 erasure-coded pool needs at least 10.
8The quote attaches 6 SE2,420 QLC enclosures to each appliance; the SAS-4 option holds up to 120 QLC SSDs, which is 5 enclosures of 24.
9The quote has 29,480 TB of raw QLC flash in 5 racks; DDN supports up to 5 PB of QLC flash per rack, 25,000 TB in these racks.
10The quote has 3 SS9,012 enclosures of spinning disk in each appliance and no Hot Pools license to tier between NVMe and HDD.
11The quote attaches 11 SS9,012 enclosures to each appliance; the platform supports up to 900 SAS drives, which is 10 enclosures of 90.
12The quote needs 42 rack units for the appliances and enclosures, and 1 racks give 40 rack units after the top-of-rack space.
13The appliances and enclosures draw 5,100 watts, and 1 racks at 5 kW each supply 5,000 watts.
14The appliances and enclosures draw 10,200 watts of the 11,000 watts the racks supply, above 90 percent, so a person should confirm.
15The quote has no hardware support plan; the software subscription does not cover hardware.
16The system is for production, and the hardware support plan is not Onsite Premium, which DDN describes as the plan for critical storage, so a person should confirm.
17The quote includes the EXAScaler SW Subscription, which requires Call Home telemetry, and Call Home is not configured.
18The expansion has a term of 3 years, and the base subscription has 2 years left; an expansion must co-term, so the base subscription must expire on or after it.
19The quote has a 5-year term, a long price commitment, so a person should confirm.
20The quote has a term of 2 years; the subscription and support are quoted for 1, 3 or 5 years.
21The quote includes no EXAScaler appliance, so there is nothing to price.
22The quote states a total of $700,543; the prices give $700,544.
23The quote states a read throughput of 359 GB/s; the published per-appliance figures and the ports cabled give 360 GB/s.
24The quote states 1,535 TB of raw capacity; the drives and enclosures quoted give 1,536 TB.
25The total is $57,281,280, above $20 million, so a person should confirm.

  

  

    
Scenarios and results
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The recorded result of the validator for each scenario on this page: the request the AI agent sent, the verdict, and every finding, in the order they appear above.

    
1. Sovereign AI cloud, 8 appliances: A quote for a sovereign AI cloud: eight AI400X2T appliances with QLC flash, an HDD tier and data services

    
The agent's request. Please quote 8 AI400X2T appliances on an HDR InfiniBand fabric with 16 host ports cabled on each appliance and 112 cables, with 24 NVMe drives of 16 TB in each appliance, 5 SE2420 QLC expansion enclosures of 30.72 TB SSDs on each appliance, 2 SS9012 SAS expansion enclosures of 20 TB HDDs on each appliance, 5 racks, S3 Data Services, NFS/SMB Data Services, Call Home configured and Onsite Premium hardware support, for a production system on a 3-year term. The quote states a read throughput of 960 GB/s, 32,552 TB of raw capacity and a total of $10,437,840 over the term. It is ready to send.

    
Verdict: Blocked.

    
    
      
  • Too few cables quoted. The quote has 112 cables, and 8 appliances with 16 ports cabled each need 128.
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  • QLC flash over 5 PB per rack. The quote has 29,480 TB of raw QLC flash in 5 racks; DDN supports up to 5 PB of QLC flash per rack, 25,000 TB in these racks.
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  • HDD enclosures need Hot Pools. The quote has 2 SS9,012 enclosures of spinning disk in each appliance and no Hot Pools license to tier between NVMe and HDD.
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  • Stated total does not match. The quote states a total of $10,437,840; the prices give $13,375,808.
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  • Stated read throughput does not match. The quote states a read throughput of 960 GB/s; the published per-appliance figures and the ports cabled give 920 GB/s.
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  • Stated raw capacity does not match. The quote states 32,552 TB of raw capacity; the drives and enclosures quoted give 61,352 TB.
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2. Sovereign AI cloud, 8 appliances: The agent resubmits after fixing the errors

    
The agent's request. Please quote 8 AI400X2T appliances on an HDR InfiniBand fabric with 16 host ports cabled on each appliance and 128 cables, with 24 NVMe drives of 16 TB in each appliance, 5 SE2420 QLC expansion enclosures of 30.72 TB SSDs on each appliance, 2 SS9012 SAS expansion enclosures of 20 TB HDDs on each appliance, 6 racks, Hot Pools, S3 Data Services, NFS/SMB Data Services, Call Home configured and Onsite Premium hardware support, for a production system on a 3-year term. The quote states a read throughput of 920 GB/s, 61,352 TB of raw capacity and a total of $13,899,808 over the term. It is ready to send.

    
Verdict: Allowed.

    
    
      
  • Quote summary. Hardware of $8,790,400, an annual charge of $1,703,136 and a total of $13,899,808 over the term.
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3. University HPC center, 4 appliances: A quote for a university HPC center: four ES400X2 appliances with a large HDD tier

    
The agent's request. Please quote 4 ES400X2 appliances on an HDR InfiniBand fabric with 8 host ports cabled on each appliance and 32 cables, with 24 NVMe drives of 8 TB in each appliance, 11 SS9012 SAS expansion enclosures of 20 TB HDDs on each appliance, 2 racks, Hot Pools, S3 Data Services, Call Home configured and Standard hardware support, for a production system on a 3-year term. The quote states a read throughput of 360 GB/s, 79,968 TB of raw capacity and a total of $5,368,960 over the term. It is ready to send.

    
Verdict: Blocked.

    
    
      
  • Appliance fabric does not match the client fabric. The client network is not the same kind of fabric as the host ports quoted on the appliances; the appliances offer HDR/HDR100 InfiniBand or 200/100GbE Ethernet, and the clients must be on the same one.
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  • Too few free switch ports. The client fabric has 24 free switch ports, and the appliances need 32 ports.
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  • Too many SS9012 enclosures per appliance. The quote attaches 11 SS9,012 enclosures to each appliance; the platform supports up to 900 SAS drives, which is 10 enclosures of 90.
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  • Not enough rack space. The quote needs 184 rack units for the appliances and enclosures, and 2 racks give 80 rack units after the top-of-rack space.
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  • Over the rack power budget. The appliances and enclosures draw 84,300 watts, and 2 racks at 17 kW each supply 34,000 watts.
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  • Stated total does not match. The quote states a total of $5,368,960; the prices give $9,316,672.
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  • Production system without Premium support. The system is for production, and the hardware support plan is not Onsite Premium, which DDN describes as the plan for critical storage, so a person should confirm.
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4. University HPC center, 4 appliances: The agent resubmits after fixing the errors

    
The agent's request. Please quote 4 ES400X2 appliances on a 200GbE Ethernet fabric with 6 host ports cabled on each appliance and 24 cables, with 24 NVMe drives of 8 TB in each appliance, 10 SS9012 SAS expansion enclosures of 20 TB HDDs on each appliance, 5 racks, Hot Pools, S3 Data Services, Call Home configured and Standard hardware support, for a production system on a 3-year term. The quote states a read throughput of 360 GB/s, 72,768 TB of raw capacity and a total of $8,514,992 over the term. It is ready to send.

    
Verdict: Needs approval.

    
    
      
  • Production system without Premium support. The system is for production, and the hardware support plan is not Onsite Premium, which DDN describes as the plan for critical storage, so a person should confirm.
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  • Little power headroom. The appliances and enclosures draw 77,100 watts of the 85,000 watts the racks supply, above 90 percent, so a person should confirm.
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  • Quote summary. Hardware of $2,900,720, an annual charge of $1,871,424 and a total of $8,514,992 over the term.
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5. Genomics institute, expansion: A quote for a genomics institute: an expansion of its existing EXAScaler system

    
The agent's request. Please quote 2 ES200X2 appliances as an expansion of an existing EXAScaler system on an HDR100 InfiniBand fabric with 6 host ports cabled on each appliance and 12 cables, with 24 NVMe drives of 8 TB in each appliance, 1 rack, S3 Data Services and Onsite Premium hardware support, for a production system on a 3-year term. The quote states a read throughput of 96 GB/s, 384 TB of raw capacity and a total of $204,720 over the term. It is ready to send.

    
Verdict: Blocked.

    
    
      
  • More ports cabled than the model has. The quote cables 6 host ports on each appliance, and this model has 4 host ports.
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  • Too few free switch ports. The client fabric has 8 free switch ports, and the appliances need 12 ports.
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  • Call Home not configured. The quote includes the EXAScaler SW Subscription, which requires Call Home telemetry, and Call Home is not configured.
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  • Expansion outlasts the base subscription. The expansion has a term of 3 years, and the base subscription has 2 years left; an expansion must co-term, so the base subscription must expire on or after it.
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  • Stated total does not match. The quote states a total of $204,720; the prices give $289,776.
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6. Genomics institute, expansion: The agent resubmits after fixing the errors

    
The agent's request. Please quote 2 ES200X2 appliances as an expansion of an existing EXAScaler system on an HDR100 InfiniBand fabric with 4 host ports cabled on each appliance and 8 cables, with 24 NVMe drives of 8 TB in each appliance, 1 rack, S3 Data Services, Call Home configured and Onsite Premium hardware support, for a production system on a 1-year term. The quote states a read throughput of 96 GB/s, 384 TB of raw capacity and a total of $203,840 over the term. It is ready to send.

    
Verdict: Allowed.

    
    
      
  • Quote summary. Hardware of $160,160, an annual charge of $43,680 and a total of $203,840 over the term.
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Narration transcript
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The text of the narrated walkthrough, step by step.

    
    
      
  1. Welcome to a demo of Predictika's Validator. An AI sales agent prepares a quote for DDN, the AI and HPC data storage company: EXAScaler and AI400X2 appliances (ES200X2, ES400X2, AI400X2, ES400X2T, AI400X2T) with NVMe drives, SE2420 QLC flash and SS9012 disk expansion enclosures, on an InfiniBand or Ethernet host fabric. Before it goes out, the agent sends it to Predictika, which checks it against a declarative model of the limits DDN publishes and returns a verdict, every reason, a line-item quote and the figures it computed.
    2. 
      
  2. I will start with the first request by the agent.
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  3. The agent says. Please quote 8 AI400X2T appliances on an HDR InfiniBand fabric. The quote states a read throughput of 960 GB/s, 32,552 TB of raw capacity and a total of $10,437,840 over the term. The rest of the request is on screen.
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  4. Before it goes out, the agent calls the validator.
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  5. Blocked, with six findings, all in one answer. The quote has 112 cables, and 8 appliances with 16 ports cabled each need 128. The quote has 29,480 TB of raw QLC flash in 5 racks; DDN supports up to 5 PB of QLC flash per rack, 25,000 TB in these racks. The quote has 2 SS9,012 enclosures of spinning disk in each appliance and no Hot Pools license to tier between NVMe and HDD. The other three are on screen.
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  6. The validator returned six blocking findings in one answer. A check that reads one field at a time would pass most of this; it shows only when the choices in the quote are checked against each other and against the stated total.
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  7. What this shows: for stated total, read throughput and raw capacity, a rules-based CPQ can do this only with workarounds.
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  8. Now the agent resubmits.
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  9. The corrected request. It changes the cables to 128, the Hot Pools to included, the racks to 6, the stated read throughput to 920 GB/s, the stated raw capacity to 61,352 TB and the stated total to $13,899,808.
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  10. It calls the validator again.
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  11. This time the validator clears it.
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  12. The validator also returns the line-item quote. It starts with EXAScaler appliance AI400X2T and NVMe drives of 16 TB; the other ten lines are on screen.
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  13. All six earlier findings are cleared, and the validator's total, $13,899,808, matches the quote.
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  14. Six problems caught in one call, fixed in one pass, and a clean $13,899,808 quote. That is the value of Predictika's validator: catching mistakes before they reach the customer. Now you can try the other scenarios yourself.
    15.