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Hitachi Data Systems Crushes the Competition With Next Generation Storage Platform Delivering 500% Performance Advantage

Posted on: Tuesday, 7 September 2004, 06:00 CDT

New Hitachi TagmaStore(TM) Universal Storage Platform Towers Over Competition with 2 Million IOPs and 850% More Cached Bandwidth

Hitachi Data Systems, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE:HIT), today announced the revolutionary Hitachi TagmaStore(TM) Universal Storage Platform, which introduces a completely new paradigm of storage by featuring breakthrough technologies previously not available in enterprise storage systems.

The Universal Storage Platform changes the industry dynamics of data storage by powering an embedded virtualization layer capable of managing up to 32 petabytes of internal and external storage, logical partitions in both internal and external storage, and sophisticated storage-agnostic remote copy that greatly simplifies business continuity.

In addition to these ground breaking new business-enabling capabilities, the new Universal Storage Platform outperforms any storage system on the planet. With the third generation massively parallel crossbar switch architecture as its engine--the all new mega scalable Hitachi Universal Star Network(TM)--the Universal Storage Platform delivers 2 Million IOPs (input output operations per second)--a 500% advantage over other storage systems in the market.

"We believe that the value of the Hitachi Universal Storage Platform will be immediately apparent to IT administrators looking for ways to mask the management complexity of existing networked storage environments while scaling their environments well beyond present boundaries," said John Webster, senior analyst and founder, Data Mobility Group. "The Hitachi Universal Storage Platform essentially blows appliance-based storage virtualization away."

With cached bandwidth being the limiting performance factor in any cache-centric high-end storage system, the new Universal Star Network architecture shatters through the bottlenecks inherent in existing legacy architectures by offering a massive 68 Gigabytes per second of cached bandwidth--an 850% advantage over other systems, as well as 256 concurrent memory operations, an additional 800% advantage.

"The Hitachi Universal Storage Platform is ideal for our environments," said Tom Fleissner, storage area network architect, Pacific Capital Bancorp, the largest independent banking company on the Central Coast of California, with $5.7 billion in assets. "With the ability to handle up to 32 Petabytes and 2 million inputs/outputs per second means the platform can manage and process the needed information today and expand to keep up with our very competitive business. The unique embedded virtualization and universal replication capabilities significantly reduce the cost and complexity of complying with government regulations and assure data integrity even in the worst of disasters."

"Every storage system on the market looks archaic by comparison," said Claus Mikkelsen, chief scientist, Hitachi Data Systems. "By leveraging research and development across multiple disciplines and utilizing proven cross-pollination R&D techniques, we have introduced a platform that features the best technologies from our enterprise server division, software division, and telecommunications division. There is no comparison."

Hu Yoshida, chief technology officer, Hitachi Data Systems, added, "The problem with the proprietary boxes that are being delivered today by the competition is that they scale capacity faster than they scale performance. We, however, have taken a balanced system approach to scaling our platform. We have taken as much time to improve performance, cache management, and maintain quality of service in a highly consolidated, finely partitioned environment as we did with capacity. In addition, we have taken a virtual machine approach in that we have ensured secure multi-tenancy for individual applications--that's what comes from our systems expertise. You can try and take a 'kit builder' mentality to logical partitioning, but ultimately, it won't work."

Available in Three Models

The Universal Storage Platform has a maximum internal raw capacity of 332TB delivered through support for up to 1,152 146GB or 300GB disk drives. To meet customer needs for performance and capacity, the Universal Storage Platform is available in three new models using common technology, common functionality, and a fully non-disruptive upgrade path ensuring investment protection.

Entry Level Model USP100

-- Maximum internal raw capacity of 77TB with up to 256 146GB or 300GB disk drives

-- 17GB per second of cached bandwidth, double that of other systems, delivering performance equivalent to the Hitachi Lightning 9980V(TM) enterprise storage system

-- Fibre Channel, FICON, ESCON, NAS connectivity

Enhanced Model USP600

-- Maximum internal raw capacity of 154TB with up to 512 146GB or 300GB disk drives, a 183% advantage over other systems

-- 34GB per second of cached bandwidth, 425% greater than other systems

-- Up to 128 Fibre Channel interfaces delivers more than double the consolidation capabilities of other systems; plus FICON, ESCON, NAS connectivity

High Performance Model USP1100

-- Maximum internal raw capacity of 332TB with up to 1,152 146GB or 300GB disk drives, 395% more capacity than other systems

-- 68GB per second of cached bandwidth, 850% greater than other systems

-- Up to 192 Fibre Channel interfaces, a 300% advantage, which delivers consolidation capabilities multiples greater than other systems; plus FICON, ESCON, NAS connectivity

The Universal Storage Platform offerings will co-exist with the Lightning 9900(TM) V Series, delivering customers the freedom to choose the appropriate system to meet their business needs, based on functionality and workload.

"Until the introduction of the Universal Storage Platform, it has been too expensive to provide a common management solution for the fragmented data assets of a corporation. Our analysis clearly shows just how much efficiency the Universal Storage Platform can bring to the enterprise," said Dave Vellante, CEO of ITCentrix, an independent software and services firm. "Customers stand to gain the most value when the unique features of the Universal Storage Platform are leveraged--external storage attachment, logical partitioning, and universal replication--to optimize storage resources across the enterprise."

About 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 maximize customers' ROI and minimize 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 2,800 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 percent of Fortune 100 companies. For more information, please visit our Web site at www.hds.com.

About 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 March 31, 2004) consolidated sales totaled 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.

(C) 2004, Hitachi Data Systems Corporation. Hitachi Data Systems is registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as a trademark and service mark of Hitachi, Ltd. TagmaStore, Universal Star Network, Lightning 9900, Lightning 9980V, and Hi-Star are trademarks of Hitachi Data Systems. All other trade names, trademarks, and service marks used herein are the rightful property of their respective owners.

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