The customer requires 450 TB of effective capacity. With an expected 4-to-1 data reduction, the minimum required usable capacity is calculated as 450 TB / 4 = 112.5 TB.

The workload is for a tier 2 environment where latency is not a concern, which makes the capacity-optimized Pure Storage FlashArray//C the appropriate product line. The FlashArray//X is designed for tier 1, performance-sensitive workloads.

The FlashArray//C40 is the entry-level model in the //C series. Its minimum configuration provides 247 TB of raw capacity, which yields approximately 201 TB of usable capacity. Since 201 TB is greater than the required 112.5 TB, this configuration meets the customer's needs and represents the minimum required solution.

B. FlashArray//C60R3 878 TB: This is a valid FlashArray//C configuration, but it is significantly oversized for the requirement and is not the minimum option.

C. FlashArray//X70R3 228 TB: This is an incorrect product family. FlashArray//X is designed for performance-sensitive, tier 1 workloads, not capacity-oriented tier 2 environments.

D. FlashArray//C60R3 366 TB: While this configuration would meet the capacity need, the FlashArray//C40 is a smaller, more cost-effective model that also satisfies the requirement, making it the correct minimum choice.

1. Pure Storage FlashArray//C Family Datasheet. (Document: pure-datasheet-flasharray-c.pdf).

Page 1, "Capacity for Everything": "FlashArray//C is the industry’s first capacity-optimized AFA, designed for tier 2 production and workload consolidation...". This justifies the selection of the //C family over the //X family for this use case.

Page 2, "FLASHARRAY//C SPECIFICATIONS" Table: This table specifies the "Min. Raw Capacity" for the FlashArray//C40 R3 model as 247 TB and for the FlashArray//C60 R3 as 366 TB. This confirms that option A represents the smallest available configuration in the appropriate product family that meets the calculated capacity requirement.

2. Pure Storage FlashArray Architecture White Paper. (Document: pure-wp-flasharray-architecture.pdf).

Section: "Purity Reduce": This section details how Purity's data reduction technologies (including deduplication and compression) provide an average data reduction of 5:1 across the fleet, with total efficiency of 10:1. This supports the methodology of calculating required usable capacity based on the customer's expected data reduction ratio (4-to-1).