Hitachi Data Systems (HDS) has taken the wraps off a major upgrade
to its Content Archive Platform with a a
content-addressed storage (CAS) product based on its Feb. 2007
acquisition of Archivas Inc.
The first version of the product was limited in scope, available
in a single, integrated device based on the HDS WMS100 storage
array. Version 2.0, shipping today, decouples the server from the
storage and now supports the entire line of storage systems from
HDS. Integration with HDS' high-end USP-V array, for example,
enables a single node of the
archive to scale to 256 terabytes (TB) or 400 million objects.
HDS claims an 80 node archive will support up to 20 petabytes (PB).
The previous version supported 32 TB and 25 million objects per
node. Users are also able to scale server nodes and storage
capacity separately, reducing the power consumption usually
associated with scaling.
"They've boosted performance and made it easier to buy as users can
now pick which Hitachi storage they want behind the archive," said
John Webster, principle IT analyst with Illuminata Inc. For
third-party storage support, users are required to buy the HDS
USP-V and virtualize the non-HDS storage behind it, according to
Michael Hay, director of product strategy at HDS.
Tony Asaro, senior analyst with Enterprise Strategy Group, said
the company has added some key features to the product, missing in
the earlier version, including replication, security and
deduplication, and is positioning it "to be a leader in the next
wave," of the CAS market, he said.
Patent-pending data protection
Version 2.0 has an integrated replication feature called
automated object replication that previously required an
interposing server. This enables replication over the WAN to share
data between sites or for disaster recovery. It includes an
optional digital signature capability to ensure authenticity, as
well as compression to ease network congestion.
Hitachi has also introduced an encryption feature for users
looking to step up the security of their archive. The
patent-pending technology, referred to as "secret sharing," allows
users to store their security key within the Hitachi Content
Archive Platform and "secretly share" that key across multiple
nodes within the archive. In doing so, only a fully operational
system -- with all of its nodes connected to the archive -- will be
able to decrypt the content, meta data and search index, HDS
claims. This new software ensures that if a server or storage
device is stolen or removed from the cluster, the device would be
automatically encrypted and immediately unreadable by any other
device.
Data deduplication
Another new feature known as single-instance storage provides
both a hash comparison and binary comparison to ensure objects are
actual duplicates, therefore avoiding "hash collisions" where
different objects could have the same cryptographic hash key.
"There's a lot of uncertainty around the systems that rely only on
hash algorithms, as many of these have been cracked," HDS' Hay
said. The archive will show how many duplicates were eliminated and
the amount of total storage capacity saved.
Partners?
According to most analysts, Hitachi has an impressive product on
its hands in terms of scale and performance. However, the company
lacks oomph as far as generating business with partners goes. HDS
said 26 application vendors have written to the archive, which
pales in comparison to the hundreds of ISVs that support EMC's
Centera archiving system. "Now that the solution is capable of
doing so much more, you're going to see much more action from
partners," said Asim Zaheer, senior director of business
development for content archiving at HDS.
Webster said he believes that once the XAM specification takes
hold, HDS will be in a stronger position to pick up market share.
"This is the floodgate to partnerships -- it will be much easier
when people can write to a standard interface," he said. HDS was
unable to provide user references by press time.
List pricing will be between $10 GB to $14 GB depending on
storage platform, disk size, performance etc. An entry-level 5 TB
system will have a list price of approximately $70,000.
Meanwhile, the rumor mill is in full swing regarding the next
generation of Centera. Sources said it's expected in the fall, and
like the new HDS platform, will scale performance and capacity
independently, as well as support a flexible hashing algorithm for
better security.
"Centera is getting long in the tooth -- there are a number of
things out there now that are bigger, better and faster," Webster
said.