Hitachi Data Systems addresses a customer's critical business issues with a fully-functional high-end SAN.
Newly available Freedom Data Networks™ solution provides superior SAN-based architecture for integrating Windows NT™ servers with a Hitachi Data Systems 7700E storage pool.
April 26 1999 — In a move designed to address today's most pressing IT issues such as business continuity, high availability, and server consolidation, Hitachi Data Systems today announced that it has been selected by Northern Trust Company of Chicago, a leading-provider of personal financial services, to implement a Storage Area Network (SAN) in its corporate data center.
The SAN implementation at Northern Trust forms the basis of the Hitachi Data Systems Freedom SAN™ Solution, which will be marketed by Hitachi Data Systems directly to end users in Fortune 300 data centers. Available immediately in North America, this leading-edge SAN suite marks Hitachi Data Systems as one of the first IT solutions providers to offer a complete SAN implementation based on non-proprietary technology.
"There are countless organizations in this industry that have jumped on the SAN bandwagon and made a lot of noise," said David Coombs, vice president and general manager, Hitachi Data Systems Enterprise Storage. "Unfortunately, many of these organizations are using various tactics to gloss over the fact that they have little or nothing to show for it. On the other hand, Hitachi Data Systems' proven strength and leadership in the information management arena enable it to deliver high-powered SAN solutions now — not just talk about them."
The Freedom SAN Solution is the first example of a SAN developed using the Hitachi Data Systems Freedom Data Networking architecture (FDN), a flexible structure for implementing SANs and other data-centric network solutions that allow customers to access and control their data without being tied to proprietary technology that limits their business options.
The SAN solution installed at Northern Trust will enable the company to address three key objectives: storage consolidation, the off-loading of data-intensive traffic from the LAN, and remote mirroring.
"The benefits of the Hitachi Data Systems SAN solution include the ability to pool storage devices in a central location, utilize a common Automated Tape Library (ATL) to back up multiple server locations, and off-load data management traffic from the LAN," said Randy Overbey, senior vice president, Worldwide Technology Services for Northern Trust. "By allowing Northern Trust to leverage key hardware, software, and operational assets, Hitachi Data Systems' SAN solution enables us to control storage management costs while providing robust data management services across the enterprise."
"Hitachi Data Systems, with the introduction of the Freedom Data Networks architecture, is clearly the proven leader in the SAN technology marketplace," said Jeff Edwards, group vice president, Hitachi Data Systems Enterprise Solutions. "We are very pleased to partner with Northern Trust in delivering enterprise-level SAN solutions and expand the use of fibre channel as a SAN-enabling technology. The immediate availability of the Hitachi Data Systems Freedom SAN Solution will give clients a business tool designed to address the needs of today's complex IT environment."
The Hitachi Data Systems Freedom SAN Solution components include: Hitachi Data Systems VisionBase™ Servers, Hitachi Data Systems Freedom Storage™ 7700E subsystem, Ancor fibre channel switches, and Emulex Fibre Channel adapter cards. Options include HARBOR™ File Transfer and File Level Backup and Restore software.
By installing a SAN at Northern Trust, Hitachi Data Systems provides centralized storage management, giving Windows NT data center-quality storage. This SAN implementation eases configuration of large disk farms in Windows NT environments. The architecture also supports highly available Windows NT infrastructures in the future which will provide redundant connections for path and host fail-over, and shared storage for clustered computing environments.
The Northern Trust installation off-loads data-intensive traffic from the LAN, freeing up bandwidth for critical business applications, while moving data at much faster Fibre Channel speeds on the SAN. Tape drives, slots, and scratch tapes are managed by one platform, eliminating the need for ATL resources dedicated to S/390® and open systems, thereby resulting in better utilization of the ATL resources. Windows NT data volumes on the Hitachi Data Systems Freedom Storage 7700E subsystem are backed up without having to traverse the corporate LANs, reducing the impact of additional traffic over the network.
The SAN implementation at Northern Trust also provides an architecture that simplifies data movement between S/390 and Windows NT through the Hitachi Data Systems Freedom Storage 7700E subsystem. Data migrated from the enterprise server to Windows NT or vice versa will not have to traverse the corporate LAN. This unique feature facilitates data migration functions for data warehouse applications or data conversion. It provides a data migration path and eliminates the need to transfer data through traditional tape conversions or Systems Network Architecture (SNA) connections, resulting in better throughput.
Utilizing the 7700E's Hitachi Open Remote Copy (HORC) feature, Northern Trust is able to replicate mission-critical data from one subsystem to another at distances of up to 20 kilometers. Supported from a PC attached to the 7700E's internal LAN, HORC brings the robust and widely accepted Remote Copy function for S/390 into the open-systems arena. HORC also provides replication of data without CPU intervention.
Recognized as a leading provider of business solutions for the world's most IT-intensive corporations, Hitachi Data Systems offers a global professional services division, multiplatform storage subsystems, and the industry's broadest line of high-performance servers. The company's extensive range of products and services, coupled with its business alliances with key industry leaders, enable it to translate technology into enterprise-wide solutions for high-end and middle-market customers. Hitachi Data Systems is owned by Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE:HIT) and has its headquarters in Santa Clara, California.
Contacts: PR
Mark Lewis at Hitachi Data Systems (408) 970-4356.
Hitachi Data Systems is registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as a trademark and service mark of Hitachi, Ltd. Freedom SAN, Freedom Data Networks, Freedom Storage, and VisionBase are trademarks of Hitachi Data Systems Corporation. S/390 is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation. UNIX is a registered trademark in the United States and other countries, licensed exclusively through X/Open Company Limited. HARBOR is a trademark of BETA Systems Corporation. Windows NT is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Ancor is a mark and property of Ancor Communications, Inc.All other brand or product names are or may be trademarks of, and are used to identify, products or services of their respective owners.
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