Hitachi Data Systems

Trust Hitachi Data Systems (HDS) to stick by its guns to drum up the benefits of storage virtualization when other storage vendors are still extolling the wonders of information lifecycle management.

Not to be confused with the hard disk drive manufacturing arm of Hitachi, called Hitachi Global Storage Technologies, HDS makes sophisticated storage disk array systems and software to manage these systems.

In July, the company introduced virtualization capabilities into its midrange products, upping the stakes in the battle to woo small and medium-sized businesses.

The TagmaStore Network Storage Controller model NSC55 was touted as a pared-down version of the TagmaStore Universal Storage Platform (USP), its high-end storage range launched last September. This allowed smaller companies to get advanced functionalities at a more affordable price.

Earlier in the year, HDS also worked hard to make sure that its products interoperated with its rivals' such as those from EMC and IBM, which is a crucial element in the world of virtualization where the ability to centrally manage heterogeneous storage devices is key.

In February, it announced that it had added virtualization support for EMC's Symmetrix, DMX, and CLARiiON hardware to its TagmaStore Universal Storage Platform. In May, the company announced interoperability with IBM servers, storage, and software.

According to Gartner, HDS ranked sixth, after HP, EMC, IBM, Dell, and Sun, in terms of external disk storage vendor revenues in the Asia-Pacific, in the second quarter of 2005. It recorded US$27.1 million in revenues, which represented 7.3 percent market share.