Hitachi unveils mid-range NAS platform

The new NAS platform supports up to two petabytes of storage

Hitachi Data Systems has introduced a mid-range network attached storage (NAS) platform, which the firm said offers built-in support for intelligent management of tiered storage.

Available immediately, the Hitachi NAS 3080 and 3090 are an extension of the firm's current HNAS line-up but at a mid-range price point, according to Lynn Collier, Hitachi's director for software and solutions in EMEA.

"Our new platform has a lot of functionality previously only available to larger customers. We looked at ways of taking the cost out," she said.

One way in which Hitachi hopes to differentiate its platforms is with intelligent tiering, allowing customers to automate the migration of less often accessed data from high-performance storage such as a Fibre Channel storage attached networks, to less costly media such as Serial ATA (Sata) drives.

"You can use multiple tiers of storage behind the 3080 and 3090, which delivers customers an overall reduction in total cost of ownership and helps tackle growing storage demands," Collier said.

The NAS 3080 is capable of 60,000 input/output operations per second (IOPS) and can scale to manage up to one petabyte (approximately one billion gigabytes) of storage. The NAS 3090 can handle up to 100,000 IOPS and up to two petabytes of storage.

Both models can connect directly to Hitachi's Adaptable Modular Storage arrays, which support both SAS and Sata drives with Fibre Channel or iSCSI interfaces.

Sanj Juneja, NAS business manager at Hitachi Data Systems, maintained that scalability is vital as customers need a platform they can grow with.

"One of the key feedback messages we got [from customers] is that they want an integrated solution. The new platform can plug in without the need for expensive switches and makes us very competitive in this space," he said.

Prices start at $70,000 (£42,740) for the entry level NAS 3080.