* The Universal Storage Platform VM
Hitachi this week announced a unique storage virtualization platform.
The Universal Storage Platform VM is a downsized modular version of the company’s Universal Storage Platform (USP V), which virtualizes storage from heterogeneous arrays.
The Universal Storage Platform VM is a virtualization control unit that can either be accompanied with Fibre Channel storage or not. It has a 10U (17.5-inch) high rack-mountable form factor and a 220-volt standard power supply. It does not require a raised floor data center for operation.
According to Hu Yushida, CTO for Hitachi Data Systems, the USP VM should open new markets to HDS – with it, the company will be able to sell it through the channel to smaller companies that wouldn’t have the need for a full-blown TagmaStore USP V.
The USP VM also has thin provisioning capabilities, making it competitive to products from 3PAR and Pillar Data.
The USP VM supports as much as 96PB of storage. It uses an enhanced crossbar switch architecture with 4Gbps Fibre Channel end-to-end.
Further, the USP VM supports VMware ESX Server 3.0 and Windows, Linux and Unix, as well as mainframe environments via ESCON or FICON.
The USP VM has as many as 32 processors and 48 physical ports that each can be virtualized to 1,024 ports.
The control unit is expected to be available in October starting at $60,000.
