Hitachi Data Systems today announced the immediate availability of Hitachi TagmaStore Universal Storage Platform virtualisation support for EMC Symmetrix DMX 800, 1000, 2000, 3000 and Symmetrix 3000, 5000 and 8000 series storage systems. EMC CLARiiON CX series storage systems will be supported at the end of January.
According to Fanie van Rensburg, MD of local HDS distributor, Shoden Data Systems, EMC customers can now utilise HDS's Universal Storage Platform (USP), which aims to extend the useful life of their installed storage assets, reduces operational costs and software licensing fees, and provides beneficial software functionality, such as asynchronous remote copy and logical partitioning.
"Customers can revamp existing EMC storage systems with HDS's latest software, by leveraging the virtualisation layer within the universal storage platform, which essentially maps new functionality to all externally attached storage systems," he explains.
"This means you could take a CLARiiON, virtualise it, and enable it to store mainframe data on SATA disks; you could take a DMX, attach it to a Universal Storage Platform and virtualise it as part of a logical partition, assigning dedicated resources to an individual application; you could move data from CLARiiONs to Symmetrixes and back, enabling true ILM - the possibilities are infinite."
"Our virtualisation solution, the first controller-based implementation in the industry, doesn't rely on API bartering between storage or switch vendors, or require any appliances or routers in the data path," adds Hu Yoshida, chief technology officer, Hitachi Data Systems.
"Hitachi simply extended the internal virtualisation capabilities it has developed over the last 12 years to external storage, especially leveraging the virtual storage ports concept. The USP appears as a Fibre Channel Standard interface to all storage devices connected via Fibre Channel. As such, supported storage systems connect to the Universal Storage Platform via the Fibre Channel Standard interface, much like a Windows or Unix server would. So, support-wise, it's no different from attaching a CLARiiON, Symmetrix or DMX storage system to a host server through VERITAS Volume Manager. However, once an external device is virtualised and added to the Universal Storage Platform's storage pool, it gains the full functionality of the Universal Storage Platform and it's all managed from a single pane of glass."
"In today's complex storage environments, virtualisation is the critical element in delivering simplified storage management," comments John McArthur, Group VP and GM, Information Infrastructure and Enabling Technologies, IDC. "CIOs who want substantial, measurable improvement in the operational efficiency of their storage infrastructure must take a very different approach to managing their storage resources. A new category of products, which IDC calls Network Storage Controllers and includes solutions such as the TagmaStore USP, will play a pivotal role in delivering virtualisation to heterogeneous environments."
Since the announcement of the Universal Storage Platform in September 2004, Hitachi Data Systems has completed virtualisation testing for numerous HP, IBM, Sun and EMC storage systems.
Additional information about Hitachi TagmaStore Universal Storage Platform can be found online at www.hds.com/products_services/universal_storage_platform/.
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With offices in Johannesburg and Cape Town, Shoden Data Systems (Pty) Ltd is the sole distributor for Hitachi Data Systems in SA.
Shoden Data Systems also has strategic agreements with CNT - a provider of storage networking solutions, products and services- and is a reseller of Fujitsu Siemens Computers. In addition, the company is a Veritas Premier Partner, providing integrated, managed, best-of-breed storage area network solutions to the marketplace, and also distributes VMware, virtual machine software for Intel-based systems.
Based on more than 200 collective years of experience in the service, support and marketing of Hitachi products, Shoden Data Systems uses its intellectual capital and industry leading products to provide customers with total solutions in the storage, enterprise servers and connectivity arenas. The following offerings are available:
1. Storage - HDS Freedom storage range, including the enterprise-level Lightning 9900 series and the modular Thunder 9500 series.
2. Connectivity - CNT and Brocade.
3. Servers - Fujitsu Siemens PrimePower range of servers.
Hitachi Data Systems
Hitachi Data Systems leverages global R&D resources to develop storage solutions built on industry-leading technology with the performance, availability and scalability to maximise customers' ROI and minimise their risk. By focusing on the customer's perspective as we apply the best hardware, software and services from Hitachi and our partners, we uniquely satisfy our customers' business needs.
With 2 900 employees, Hitachi Data Systems conducts business through direct and indirect channels in the public, government and private sectors in over 170 countries. Its customers include more than 50% of Fortune 100 companies. For more information, please visit our Web site at www.hds.com.
Hitachi, Ltd
Hitachi, Ltd (NYSE: HIT), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a leading global electronics company, with approximately 326 000 employees worldwide. Fiscal 2003 (ended 31 March 2004) consolidated sales totalled 8 632.4 billion yen ($81.4 billion). The company offers a wide range of systems, products and services in market sectors, including information systems, electronic devices, power and industrial systems, consumer products, materials and financial services. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company's Web site at http://www.hitachi.com.
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