HDS Unveils Approach for Unified Data Protection and Instance Management

Hitachi Data Systems Corporation introduced an integrated approach to data instance management that transforms the way organizations protect and manage their information.

                         Data Instance Manager

At the center of this strategy is the Hitachi Data Instance Manager (HDIM), an intelligent, policy-based software platform that maps and optimizes specific instances (or copies) of data throughout the data lifecycle. In doing so it allows organizations to build an information protection strategy aligned to the specific applications and use cases of their business. It follows the acquisition of Cofio by HDS in September 2012. The software platform helps to fulfill the HDS vision to create a portfolio that unifies backup, archive, and storage platform-based replication technologies.

HDIM delivers the first step of the company’s data instance management vision by providing a holistic approach to solving customers’ instance management challenges – from laptops to protection, and from remote offices to cloud. With it, organizations can apply the optimum information protection and recovery technologies, resulting in much more efficient and effective backup, versioning, replication, archiving, dedupe, and CDP. Throughout 2013, HDS will continue to build on this vision through a series of enhancements that will deliver new integrated data protection capabilities across its entire portfolio. This will include new integration capabilities of HDIM with Hitachi Content Platform (HCP) for better archive, search and recovery, and improved data analysis.

The Management Challenge of Data Copies
Organizations continuously make copies of their data, with little to no insight into who made those copies, which tools were used, where those copies reside, how long each needs to be retained, or how they are being used. Compounding this complexity is the influx of data volume, variety, and virtualization, combined with the regulatory and compliance standards organizations need to adhere to. Taken together, these challenges create an array of different scenarios for information protection and management. Now with HDIM, IT managers no longer have to rely on disparate legacy tools for DR, versioning, and archiving that are not integrated and that result in redundancies and add complexity, costs and resource demands.

"There are many great data protection technologies available today, but what’s been lacking is a way to map those technologies to specific business use cases," said Sean Moser, VP, software platforms product management, HDS. "Organizations need a holistic view of all copies of data so the right technology can be applied at the right time – that’s where HDIM comes in. By implementing one solution for centralized data management, organizations can intelligently select and protect individual instances of data to help reduce backup windows, meet service levels, and restore data efficiently across a variety of cloud and virtual environments. HDIM delivers significant cost savings by consolidating, reducing and better managing and tracking data copies."

HDIM Redefines Data Protection
It is a unified software solution that minimizes unnecessary data copies by capturing and copying data once in real time and then making it available for recovery across various recovery points. As a result, the software platform centralizes multiple data protection capabilities with top-down policy and workflow management. The new solution protects data and reduces, controls and manages all data instances for file, SQL and Exchange in Microsoft and Linux environments, delivering end-to-end protection for mid-market customers and departments in larger enterprises. Additional platform support and deeper integration with Hitachi enterprise replication solutions will be delivered in the future.

HDIM builds on the data protection portfolio that is built on technology from HDS and its partners, including:

Hitachi Application Protector (HAPRO)

• Offers data protection software that is easy to use, snapshot-based and application-consistent, enabling application, backup or storage administrators to manage their protection.
• Is optimized for Exchange, SQL and SharePoint.
• Allows rapid recovery from planned and unplanned downtime and manages the entire protection operation from a single management window.

Hitachi Replication Manager (HRpM)

• Delivers management of the range of HDS array-based replication.
• Provides local and remote protection with zero RPO and low RTO.

Hitachi Data Protection Suite, Powered by CommVault

• Provides an integrated blend of snapshot, replication and persistent copies that are application-aware, secure, deduplicated, managed and accessible through a single platform.
• Results in an easy, automated and low cost data protection solution.

"In aviation logistics, we must run 7 by 24 by 365 or our customers’ operations are at risk. We deployed HDIM in a high demand, all virtual Hyper-V production environment using real-time protection for hundreds of virtual machines and have achieved significant cost savings. Besides the great reduction in infrastructure investment for around the clock, real-time protection, we estimate that we have reduced administrative costs and time by over 300%. We are eager to take advantage of the new solution’s enhancements," said Peter Musacchio, president, operations, IPC Logistics, Inc.

"The copy data problem exists in datacenters everywhere – filling as much as 60% of enterprise disk storage. As the amount of copy and stored data continues to grow unabated, businesses need to take concrete steps to get the problem under control. Suppliers of external disk storage systems have largely ignored this problem thus far. That is about to change with Hitachi Data Systems taking a leadership role in acknowledging and addressing the problem with HDIM," said Ashish Nadkarni, research director, storage systems, IDC Corp.