Press Release
Integrated Storage, Compute, Networking and Systems Management Delivers Enterprise Class Reliability and Predictable, Reliable and Repeatable Application and Cloud Environments
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — June 14, 2011 — Hitachi Data Systems Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE: HIT), today announced the first in a portfolio of converged data center solutions to automate, accelerate and simplify cloud adoption. Hitachi converged data center solutions combine and optimize enterprise class storage systems and compute blades from Hitachi as well as standard network infrastructure components for a broad range of applications and cloud environments. Through quicker deployment, automation and scalability, the new solutions help organizations adopt cloud at their own pace and see predictable results with faster time to value.
Hitachi converged data center solutions enable the creation of a cloud foundation – or infrastructure cloud – using tightly integrated, shared components including storage, compute and data networking. Many organizations want private cloud benefits but aren’t sure how to begin because of few standards, integrations and certifications for cloud deployments that bring predictable and reliable results.The convergence of storage, compute and network elements offered by Hitachi converged data center solutions delivers significant advantages in enterprise class reliability, deployment speed, performance and management compared to loosely coupled solutions that have not been optimized for integration. The Hitachi solutions also give organizations answers to many cloud unknowns, simplify the ordering and deployment process, and produce quantifiable results.
“Hitachi Data Systems is keenly focused on simplifying and accelerating our customers’ cloud environments while protecting their IT investments,” said John Mansfield, senior vice president, Global Solutions Strategy and Development, Hitachi Data Systems. “Our new integrated Hitachi converged solutions take that commitment one step further by extending the heritage of reliability and expertise in our Hitachi storage technologies to now include compute resources. This will help our customers to build an infrastructure cloud easily, cost effectively and reliably. It enables them to transition to a cloud delivery model at a pace they are comfortable with and that makes the most sense for their business. Ultimately, these solutions help transform customers’ data centers into automated information centers that closely align business objectives with infrastructure performance to optimize return on assets.”
“In today's fast evolving and economically challenging business world, IT organizations must spend less time configuring and managing individual devices or applications and dedicate more time developing, delivering, and enhancing new services,” said Richard Villars, vice president of storage and IT executive strategies, IDC. “Companies like HDS that are providing converged data center solutions built on a scalable, reliable, and flexible storage foundation will play a critical role in organizations' data center transformation efforts.”
Hitachi Converged Data Center Solutions Components
Hitachi converged data center solutions combine storage, compute and networking with software management, automation and optimization. This enables resource self-provisioning and usage tracking, delivers optimization at the application, platform, and hypervisor levels and provides flexibility to consume technology as needed. The initial set of converged solutions will include:
- Hitachi solutions built on Microsoft® Hyper-V™ Cloud Fast Track: A combination of Hitachi storage and compute with networking and Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 with Hyper-V and System Center for high performance private cloud infrastructures and an avenue for further automation and orchestration.
- Hitachi Converged Platform for Microsoft Exchange 2010: The first in a portfolio of pre-tested application-specific converged solutions. Engineered for rapid deployment and tightly integrated with Exchange 2010’s powerful new features for resilience, predictable performance and seamless scalability. Supported by Hitachi global services and delivered in an easy to order package.
Hitachi Unified Compute Platform (UCP): Orchestration across Technology Boundaries
A critical element of the HDS converged data center strategy, UCP provides orchestration and management within the portfolio of Hitachi converged solutions. With innovative orchestrated software, UCP centralizes and orchestrates the management of servers, storage and networking as business resource pools from a simple yet comprehensive interface. Through built in intelligence across technology boundaries, it offers large scale compute environments the advantages of IT agility aligned to business goals and the reduction of cost and risk by creating an infrastructure that is robust, automated, cohesive and flexible.
Hitachi Compute Blade: Cloud-enabling Engines for Configuration Flexibility
Hitachi is known for providing reliable and innovative solutions with distinct competitive advantages to some of the world’s most sophisticated data centers. Hitachi has been in the compute business for more than 50 years through its mainframe heritage, and Hitachi Compute Blade products have been available in Japan since 2004. Hitachi Data Systems compute strategy leverages its compute blade heritage to seamlessly integrate this functionality with its converged data center solutions, bringing enterprise class reliability and performance benefits to customers. Integrated with Hitachi storage, Hitachi Compute Blade provides the compute capability to enable HDS cloud infrastructure and converged data center environments.
HDS offers two distinct cloud-enabling compute engines that deliver unprecedented configuration flexibility to customers. Hitachi Compute Blade 2000 and Hitachi Compute Blade 320, with logical partitions (LPAR) technology, are the leading X86 enterprise class blade servers to offer mainframe functionality. HDS LPAR technology is a break-through, embedded virtualization feature that builds virtualization right into a blade server’s hardware. Because it is hardware-based virtualization, LPAR technology provides an even greater level of security through physical partitioning and can be used in conjunction with other software-based virtualization technologies. It enables customers to decrease overhead costs while increasing manageability, reliability and performance. Hitachi Compute Blade 2000 with LPAR is also the only blade server to include unique blade SMP interconnect technology that improves scalability by allowing users to configure multiple blades to work as a single system.
As one platform providing IT with an open choice for what’s best in an organization’s environment, Hitachi Compute Blade enables customers to have selected blades running LPARs next to other blades, Microsoft Hyper-V or VMware, all in the same chassis.
Customer Benefits of Hitachi Converged Data Center Solutions
- Predictable, repeatable, reliable results: Pre-validated reference architectures, pre-packaged solutions with enterprise class components in the whole stack, and targeted pre-configuration ensure consistent, predictable results as organizations build their infrastructure cloud. Guidance, templates and built-in automation further extend the ability to replicate process and results.
- Faster time to value: Quicker, simpler deployment offered from a single source for ordering and for providing services for planning and implementation. For particular converged solutions, pre-configuration of key components drastically reduces onsite deployment time. Intelligent automation of complex tasks enables rapid provisioning of resources with the assurance that the appropriate underlying infrastructure components are in place.
- Cloud at your own pace: Customers can implement their infrastructure cloud now, build it over time, combine different solutions and even extend solutions to the current IT infrastructure. Optimized solutions for generic workloads, business critical workloads and specific application and hypervisor environments vary in their level of convergence based on customer need, ranging from reference architectures to more comprehensive convergence
Supporting Quotes
- Avanade: “Avanade is excited to work with Hitachi Data Systems on its Microsoft Hyper-V Cloud Fast Track solution. We see the Hitachi solution supporting some key requirements that enterprises demand of their computing platforms, namely high availability and high performance. By providing customized services for Hitachi solutions built on Microsoft Hyper-V Cloud Fast Track, we together enable businesses to take advantage of pre-validated solutions that are tailored to their specific needs. We have begun hosting customer workloads and our customers are delighted with the performance and reliability they’re seeing.”– Patrick Cimprich, vice president and chief architect, Global Technologies and Solutions
- Brocade: “Brocade is enabling customers to build fabric-based networks, which are a fundamental requirement in supporting highly virtualized data centers and cloud environments. Hitachi converged data center solutions address our mutual customers’ needs to optimize infrastructure for various application and cloud environments – providing solutions with unmatched simplicity and complete investment protection.” – Jason Nolet, vice president, Data Center and Enterprise Networking
- Jafra: “Jafra’s 500,000 global resellers and cosmetic customers require our business operations to be ‘always on’. To provide the best possible customer experience, we trust in HDS as ourIT advisor and solution provider. The end to end flexibility, logical partitions and scalability provided by Hitachi Compute Blade, with world class HDS customer service and support, enables us to deliver a reliable IT environment and improved SLAs for our global operations.” – Fernando Merodio, global IT manager
- Microsoft: “Microsoft is committed to delivering private cloud solutions with support from industry-leading partners. Technologies such as Hitachi converged data center solutions that build on Microsoft System Center, Hyper-V and Exchange provide a solid starting point for customers who need some level of customization and also want to reduce risk and speed deployment." – Mike Schutz, senior director, Windows Server and Virtualization Product Management
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About Hitachi Data Systems
Hitachi Data Systems provides best-in-class information technologies, services and solutions that deliver compelling customer ROI, unmatched return on assets (ROA) and demonstrable business impact. With a vision that IT must be virtualized, automated, cloud-ready and sustainable, Hitachi Data Systems offers solutions that improve IT costs and agility. With more than 4,700 employees worldwide, Hitachi Data Systems does business in more than 100 countries and regions. Hitachi Data Systems products, services and solutions are trusted by the world’s leading enterprises, including more than 70 percent of the Fortune 100 and more than 80 percent of the Fortune Global 100. Hitachi Data Systems believes that data drives our world – and information is the new currency. To learn more, visit: http://www.hds.com.
About Hitachi, Ltd.
Hitachi, Ltd., (NYSE: HIT / TSE: 6501), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a leading global electronics company with approximately 360,000 employees worldwide. Fiscal 2010 (ended March 31, 2011) consolidated revenues totaled 9,315 billion yen ($112.2 billion). Hitachi will focus more than ever on the Social Innovation Business, which includes information and telecommunication systems, power systems, environmental, industrial and transportation systems, and social and urban systems, as well as the sophisticated materials and key devices that support them. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company's website at http://www.hitachi.com.
Press Contacts:
Hitachi Data Systems
Melissa Rossiter
(408) 970-4849
melissa.rossiter@hds.com
Lois Paul & Partners
Anastasia Efstratios
(781) 782-5873
anastasia_efstratios@lpp.com
© Hitachi Data Systems Corporation 2011, Hitachi is a registered trademark of Hitachi, Ltd. and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries. Hitachi Data Systems is a registered trademark and service mark of Hitachi, Ltd. in the United States and other countries.
