Hitachi launches software-defined infrastructure solutions
Connecting state and local government leaders
The new converged, hyper-converged and scale-out platforms use virtualization, flash and infrastructure automation.
Hitachi Data Systems has announced new software-defined infrastructure solutions designed to improve automation and information access as well as turn fixed assets into flexible resources.
“The fundamentals of IT are changing. Whether it is ... striking the proper balance among the different modes of IT, or the ongoing move to providing IT as a service, there is real change taking place,” said Sean Moser, Hitachi Data System's senior vice president for global portfolio and product management.
Hitachi is helping customers on the road to ITaaS by extending its Storage Virtualization Operating System to a larger Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform (VSP) family and expanding the Hitachi Unified Compute Platform (UCP) family to cover converged and hyper-converged infrastructure models. (In the most general sense, converged infrastructure is still somewhat hardware-based -- storage is attached directly to the physical server, but is a distinct "building block." Hyper-converged infrastructure, on the other hand, is software-defined with the physical technology effectively inseparable.) The company is also introducing its Hitachi Hyper Scale-Out Platform (HSP) for data analytics, and introducing software to automate the provisioning and protection of application environments.
Storage virtualization: With additions to the Hitachi VSP family – the G200, G400, G600 and the upcoming G800 – Hitachi offers the same virtualization technology that has existed in prior HDS high-end systems to help IT managers consolidate and simplify user environments. The goal, Hitachi said, is to allow simpler migrations, easier management and full resiliency without the complication of appliances.
Converged platforms: The Hitachi UCP portfolio has been expanded to include the hyper-converged Hitachi UCP 1000 for VMware EVO:RAIL, and the converged Hitachi UCP 2000, both of which target small to medium environments. The Hitachi UCP 6000 converged model integrates the recently launched Hitachi CB 2500 blade servers.
Big data analytics platform: The new Hitachi Hyper Scale-Out Platform (HSP) is capable of ingesting massive amounts of mixed data types across a distributed, clustered architecture.
Software tools: Hitachi Automation Director provides configurable best-practice-based service templates for application-specific provisioning of storage resources to databases, applications and VDI environments. Hitachi Infrastructure Director, a storage configuration and management application, streamlines management operations for the new models in the VSP family. Hitachi Data Instance Director simplifies data protection through automation and orchestration of Hitachi storage-based snapshot, clone and replication technologies, in addition to live backup, continuous data protection and archive capabilities.
“Attaining higher utilization on clusters and storage pools is critical for us, as is having a single point of support,” said James Hanley, vice president and general manager for cloud, platform and data center at Computer Sciences Corporation. “With HDS, we are able to deploy an enterprise-class converged infrastructure through automated orchestration of our server, network and storage resources.”
Hitachi Data Systems also announced the Social Innovation initiative and solutions portfolio, which addresses critical business and societal challenges – including population growth and urbanization, aging public infrastructures and populations, rising healthcare costs and public safety concerns.
These solutions combine the power of the Internet of Things– with operational technology, machine-to-machine and advanced data analytics in a unified stack. The new solutions and services include:
- Hitachi Live Insight for IT Operations, a cloud-based machine-to-machine analytics solution.
- Hitachi Live Insight for IT Operations, which lets users analyze all the machine data in their data center.
- Hitachi Clinical Repository for Connected Health, a multipurpose data repository where all clinical and nonclinical data can be stored, backed up, preserved and retrieved on a single, integrated platform.
- Hitachi Live Insight Center of Excellence, a single point of coordination across various Hitachi and third-party resources to help organizations test, customize and deploy advanced data analytics solutions, applications and platforms to support new business initiatives.