Hitachi TagmaStore Universal Storage Platform

Hitachi Data Systems, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE:HIT), today announced that IDC, the premier global market intelligence and advisory firm in the information technology and telecommunications industries, has defined a new category in the storage industry -- the Networked Storage Controller -- and called out Hitachi TagmaStore(TM) Universal Storage Platform as one of the first solutions in this category. In a white paper published by IDC titled, "New Options for Managing Tiers of Storage in the Enterprise: The Role of the Networked Storage Controller," the firm outlines how the Universal Storage Platform will play a critical role in helping IT managers deploy and manage "application-optimized" tiered storage solutions.

"Over the next two years, turning the idea of tiered storage into a usable reality for IT managers will be an important goal for the storage industries," said Richard Villars, vice president, Storage Systems for IDC and author of the new white paper. "It will shape both hardware and software development as well as drive the design of new storage architectures."

In September 2004, Hitachi Data Systems announced the Universal Storage Platform, which, in the white paper, IDC refers to as "the company's foundation for delivering next-generation tiered storage solutions," and "represents one of the first storage solutions based upon what IDC defines as an NSC solution." The massively parallel, scalable crossbar switch architecture of the Universal Storage Platform allows for a high level of modularity and performance as well as exceptional scalability, including the ability to virtualize and manage up to 32 petabytes of internally and externally attached storage. In addition, the complementary software offerings, according to IDC, "deliver the functionality required of an NSC" including the Hitachi Universal Volume Manager, Hitachi Virtual Partition Manager, Hitachi Volume Migration and Hitachi Universal Replicator.

"We are tremendously proud of the Universal Storage Platform's success as we continue to deliver application optimized storage solutions and differentiate ourselves in this industry," said Dave Roberson, president and chief operating officer of Hitachi Data Systems. "It is great to have leading industry analysts at IDC validate these efforts and define the market in which we are playing a leadership role."