Intuitive, User-friendly Interface Simplifies Hitachi Freedom Storage Administration
Open APIs Enable Independent Software Vendors to Integrate Storage Virtualization Tools to Reduce Operational Costs
Storage Networking World, ORLANDO, Florida, 22 October, 2001 — Hitachi Data Systems today announced HiCommand™, a new software framework for simplifying the tasks performed by storage-system administrators. HiCommand provides a single, integrated, Web-based user interface for controlling all Hitachi Freedom Storage™ systems. It also provides a set of Application Program Interfaces (APIs) designed to simplify the integration of storage management functions with products developed by Independent Software Vendors (ISVs).
"With today's introduction of HiCommand, the world's best storage systems just got easier to use and more economical to manage," said Ron Gervenack, Hitachi Data Systems Executive Vice President and General Manager, Storage Solutions. "The exponential growth of data has been driving the cost of managing storage systems to unprecedented levels. Typically, companies spend $7 annually for every $1 spent on purchasing the equipment. HiCommand is designed to increase the productivity of storage administrators by as much as 10 to 20 times over currently available tools. This will substantially reduce the total cost of ownership."
Designed to mirror the workflow adopted by storage administrators, HiCommand delivers a substantial increase in productivity, making it possible for each administrator to manage much larger amounts of data.
HiCommand presents administrators with easy-to-use graphical displays that show the logical groupings of storage resources in the customer installation, tools for controlling the connectivity of physical and logical storage components, and up-to-date operational information such as device capacity and usage. Administrators will be able to use the HiCommand interface to invoke and control Hitachi Freedom Storage™ software products, such as Hitachi TrueCopy and ShadowImage™.
Hitachi Data Systems will make the HiCommand APIs widely available. These open APIs will enable ISVs to tightly integrate their applications with HiCommand, leading to increased customer options for deploying storage virtualization tools and other software aimed at reducing management costs. Currently, more than 30 ISVs are actively participating in Hitachi Data Systems' new HiCommand Developers Program, developing programs around these APIs.
The productivity gains expected from the use of HiCommand are the beginning of a drive to reverse the escalating cost of employing more and more people in the data center just to manage the storage of information. This will give customers the opportunity to deploy their data center resources on more productive activities.
A Webcast of the HiCommand announcement at Storage Networking World is now available online. Register and get the details.
"Hitachi Data Systems' new HiCommand software platform is an excellent complement to the Sun StorEdge™ software product line, including Sun HighGround Storage Resource Manager, which is the preferred SRM solution for Hitachi," said Scott Hansbury, Vice President of Business Development, Sun Microsystems, Inc. "For the first time, customers will have a complete view of the entire storage stack. This translates into simplified storage management and reduced management costs for our customers. And by combining our open APIs, there will be new joint development opportunities for our products to offer tightly integrated storage management, improved performance, and better business continuity solutions. This is yet another example of how the recently announced alliance between Sun and Hitachi Data Systems is benefiting customers."
"As part of our global storage management agreement, Hitachi Data Systems has chosen VERITAS SANPoint Control™, part of VERITAS Software's suite of industry-leading storage-area management software tools, as its preferred SAN-management software solution. VERITAS SANPoint Control now integrates with the new HiCommand software and further enhances our interoperability with their storage systems," said Robin Purohit, vice president of product management, Availability Product Group, VERITAS Software. "VERITAS Software was the first company to interface to the HiCommand API, and looks forward to further cooperative efforts designed to make storage management simpler and more efficient for our mutual customers."
"The strength and depth of the HiCommand API bring InterSAN and Hitachi Data Systems one giant step closer to the freedom that our customers demand," said Chris Melville, president and CEO of InterSAN, Inc. "They are demanding freedom from the costly management burden they can no longer afford and freedom to deploy true application-based Storage Area Management solutions that drive those costs to zero; it's a combination that is good for business, and good for our customers."
"Hitachi Data Systems is on the right track in emphasizing the need to help customers get storage management costs under control," said Shebly Seyrafi, Enterprise Storage & Hardware Analyst at securities firm A.G. Edwards & Sons. "The new HiCommand framework gives customers an impressive platform to get substantial productivity gains out of their storage administrators. That could result in a flood of new tools to accelerate the pace in driving down these costs. HiCommand promises to make it easy for ISVs to write programs for the HDS platform as well as allow customers to more easily manage their storage solutions."
HiCommand software runs on a Microsoft® Windows NT®, Windows® 2000, or UNIX®-based server with network connection (TCP/IP) to all managed storage. The HiCommand server can be controlled via the Web from any location, enabling customers to achieve the cost benefits offered by a centralized approach to managing storage. HiCommand is designed to make it easier to install, configure, discover, and manage all Hitachi storage systems across all major enterprise storage resource management tools and using software offered by independent software vendors as well as its own software.
Administrators can choose to interact with the storage systems they are managing through an easy-to-learn, easy-to-use Graphical User Interface (GUI) or through a command-line interface that gives expert users the freedom to write their own scripts and control programs. A combination of the intuitive GUI view of the system and password-protected access-control levels will allow entry-level operators to quickly learn how to perform some of the management functions that previously could be handled only by experienced administrators. By removing these low-level, repetitive tasks from the activities assigned to senior administrators, HiCommand will also help customers combat chronic difficulties in recruiting and maintaining experienced data center staff and substantially reduce the cost of storage management.
In future releases of HiCommand, Hitachi Data Systems intends to include tools that increase the level of automation available to manage storage systems. For example, optimizing the performance of storage systems today is a tedious and often error prone manual process. With HiCommand, administrators will be able to eliminate this manual process by calling on software agents residing on application servers to deliver information that helps them manage their storage optimally. Operators will be able to use the HiCommand interface to request information about which logical units in a disk array are being used most heavily, and then use that information to improve performance by balancing usage more equitably across the storage system.
The trend toward lower administrative cost will be further enhanced when customers are able to use HiCommand as the framework for operating Hitachi CruiseControl™ software, which replaces manual activity with an automatic means of monitoring, analyzing, tuning, and balancing data volumes to achieve pre-determined performance levels.
In its initial release, available now, HiCommand will support the Hitachi Freedom Storage Lightning 9900™. Support for the Freedom Storage Thunder 9200™ will be available in November. In future releases of HiCommand, Hitachi Data Systems expects to include support for storage from other vendors.
Committed to helping customers exploit the value of information technology for success in the Internet economy, Hitachi Data Systems, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE:HIT), is a leading provider of business solutions for the world's most information-intensive corporations. For more information, please visit the company's Website at www.hds.com.
Hitachi, Ltd., headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is one of the world's leading global electronics companies, with fiscal 2000 (ended March 31, 2001) consolidated sales of 8,417 billion yen ($67.9 billion) The company manufactures and markets a wide range of products, including computers, semiconductors, consumer products and power and industrial equipment. For more information on Hitachi, Ltd., please visit Hitachi's Web site at www.hitachi.com.
¹ At an exchange rate of 124 yen to the dollar.
Contacts: PR
Jodi Reinman, Hitachi Data Systems, (408) 970.1050, jodi.reinman@hds.com
Hitachi Data Systems is registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as a trademark and service mark of Hitachi, Ltd. HiCommand, Freedom Storage, Lightning 9900, Thunder 9200, and ShadowImage are trademarks of Hitachi Data Systems. VERITAS, VERITAS SOFTWARE, the VERITAS logo, and all other VERITAS product names and slogans are trademarks or registered trademarks of VERITAS Software Corporation in the USA and/or other countries. Other product names and/or slogans mentioned herein may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.
Newsroom
