Hitachi Data Systems last week introduced clustering for its Universal Storage Platform V virtualization array, a move that disappointed many analysts in the industry because they expected HDS to announce a next-generation array that would rival EMC's V-Max.

The Hitachi Universal Storage Platform V (USP V) controller is an array that sits in front of storage arrays from a variety of vendors and virtualizes their storage resources into a single pool. The announcement of the Hitachi High Availability Manager, a technology that lets two USP V's be clustered into a highly available configuration, also lets users migrate data between storage systems without disruption to everyday operations.

The High Availability Manager uses Hitachi's Universal Replicator and TrueCopy software to failover between storage arrays. The implementation of the High Availability Manager relies on cache coherency in which data is locally mirrored between the USP V controllers.

HDS's HAM -- as some bloggers have dubbed it -- also supports IBM's FlashCopy technology.

Meanwhile in other storage news, Broadcom continued its assault on takeover target Emulex by trying to unseat its Board of Directors, and a Massachusetts court cleared the way for ex-EMC executive Dave Donatelli to work for HP. Donatelli and EMC had been embroiled in suits over Dontatelli's non-compete agreement. The decision of the court says that Donatelli can join HP as its head of servers and networking, but not storage.

Deni Connor is principal analyst for Storage Strategies NOW and host of both the Masters of Storage and Masters of Servers Solution Centers.