Hitachi Data Digest

Great news for the midrange – HDS has extended the successful “Switch IT On” program announced earlier this year to midrange Hitachi Universal Storage Platform VM customers. Switch IT On is a virtualization program that offers the necessary software to enable customers to seamlessly virtualize and manage all their heterogeneous storage – for free. Switch IT On helps customers leverage their existing storage assets and reclaim up to 50% of under utilized storage capacity.

Switch IT On II runs through March 2010. More details:

• FREE Hitachi Basic Operating System (BOS) V software to virtualize existing storage newly attached behind the Universal Storage Platform VM
• FREE Hitachi Dynamic Provisioning software for maximum storage utilization (first 10TB free)
• FREE Hitachi Tiered Storage Manager software for dynamic data mobility
• FREE Hitachi In-System Replication software bundle for complete data protection
• “Buy the New Hitachi NAS Platform 3080 and 3090, Get Intelligent File Tiering Software for Free” promotional offer

Additional Terms and Conditions apply.  Check out more details on the offer and sign up.

And read what Hu Yoshida has to say about the program.

HDS PR would like to welcome and formally introduce the latest blog added to the HDS Blogging Team – The Biggar Picture. Led by our very own Heidi Biggar, the new blog will aim to create a forum for discussing and sharing information on how to better optimize IT for the business. With the help of guest bloggers, look to participate in discussions on all things solutions as the bloggers explore how businesses and organizations can best optimize their IT environments for tomorrow’s business demands.

Tonia Gonsalves, vice president of partner enablement at Hitachi Data Systems, has been selected as one of Computer Reseller News (CRN) magazine’s “Top 100 Women in the Channel for 2009.” Tonia was named to the list for the second consecutive year by the editors of Everything Channel based on her achievements in the technology channel and leadership of the Hitachi TrueNorth Channel Partner Program. Check out the feature in this month’s special issue of CRN and the press release on last year’s award.

If you’re planning on attending VMworld at San Francisco’s Moscone Center next week, please come by and visit us at booth #1325. As a VMware Worldwide Gold Certified Partner, HDS plans to showcase product demos, provide educational chalk talks, and illustrate how HDS technology provides the best in operational resilience for virtual environments. Feel free to stop by and learn more about HDS solutions for VMware environments – we look forward to seeing you there!

Today we opened the online public voting for our second annual Asia Pacific IT Inspiration Awards. The awards encourage a spirit of healthy competition that is welcomed by the enterprise IT community in Asia Pacific. Driven by the success of the inaugural awards in 2008, this year has seen a significant rise in the number of nominations received—138 nominations from over 70 organizations across the region. The competitiveness of the IT Inspiration Awards demonstrates the value it brings to the IT industry and community. Be sure to cast your vote, as it closes on October 16.

Winners will be selected through a mix of public voting and a judging panel comprising of qualified judges from Hitachi Data Systems, IDC and Gartner. Be sure to cast your vote, as it closes on October 16.

For more information on the awards and to read the awards blog, please visit the event website.

The AMS 2000 family, that’s what. In less than a year, the Adaptable Modular Storage 2000 family has shipped more than 70 petabytes of SAS capacity, and with today’s announced enhancements HDS is further optimizing storage for its customers and channel partners. With added features such as a dense storage expansion tray, Dynamic Provisioning support, an 8Gb/sec FC front end, and added security features, Hitachi continues to deliver enterprise-class features and functionality to our modular customers and the channel.

Check out more information about the AMS 2000 family here.

Read what CTO Hu Yoshida has to say about today’s news, here.

Today we announced some exciting new software and services capabilities that will help our customers achieve even more impressive storage cost savings. The new Storage Reclamation Service helps customers more accurately predict and reclaim underutilized storage capacity and increase the return on their existing assets. Enhancements to Hitachi Dynamic Provisioning include an industry first automatic dynamic rebalancing, zero page reclaim and extended support for the Adaptable Modular Storage 2000 family.

Check out what our execs have to say about the announcement here: Hu’s Blog, The Storage Economist, and Christophe’s Corner.

Today we are pleased to introduce the new HDS TV Channel on HDS.com. HDS TV is an interactive video page that provides relevant storage industry information for visitors to our website. Viewers are able to comment, vote on, search and find related articles and videos. As we continue to build out the Channel, new content will be uploaded weekly. Today’s videos include an interview style video discussing the Implicit Value of USP V over the competition, an informational chalk-talk highlighting Hitachi Storage Cluster for Microsoft Hyper-V, a discussion on Storage Virtualization with CTO Storage Architectures Claus Mikkelsen and Gartner’s Dave Russell, and a video blog about the ‘Switch It On’ program featuring blogger Tony Asaro, HDS’ SVP of Worldwide Marketing Brian Householder, and independent consultant and storage industry expert, Chris Evans.

We hope you enjoy!