Hitachi Unified Storage VM Installation guide

Getting Help
Product Version
Contents
F AST F IND L INKS
Hitachi Unified Storage VM
Product Overview Guide
MK-92HM7003-04

Hitachi Unified Storage VM Product Overview Guide
ii
© 2012 - 2013 Hitachi Ltd. All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or
mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or stored in a database or retrieval system for any
purpose without the express written permission of Hitachi, Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Hitachi"), and
Hitachi Data Systems Corporation (hereinafter referred to as "Hitachi Data Systems").
Hitachi and Hitachi Data Systems reserve the right to make changes to this document at any time without
notice and assume no responsibility for its use. This document contains the most current information
available at the time of publication. When new or revised information becomes available, this entire
document will be updated and distributed to all registered users.
All of the features described in this document may not be currently available. Refer to the most recent
product announcement or contact your local Hitachi Data Systems sales office for information about feature
and product availability.
Notice: Hitachi Data Systems products and services can be ordered only under the terms and conditions of
Hitachi Data Systems' applicable agreements. The use of Hitachi Data Systems products is governed by the
terms of your agreements with Hitachi Data Systems.
Hitachi is a registered trademark of Hitachi, Ltd., in the United States and other countries. Hitachi Data
Systems is a registered trademark and service mark of Hitachi in the United States and other countries.
ShadowImage and TrueCopy are registered trademarks of Hitachi Data Systems.
AIX, FICON, FlashCopy, IBM, MVS/ESA, MVS/XA, OS/390, S/390, VM/ESA, VSE/ESA, z/OS, zSeries, z/VM,
and zVSE are registered trademarks or trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation.
All other trademarks, service marks, and company names are properties of their respective owners.
Microsoft product screen shots reprinted with permission from Microsoft Corporation

Contents iii
Hitachi Unified Storage VM Product Overview Guide
Contents
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
Safety and environmental information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .viii
Intended audience. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .viii
Release notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .viii
Product version. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .viii
Document revision level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .viii
Changes in this revision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .viii
Referenced documents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
Document conventions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
Convention for storage capacity values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .x
Accessing product documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .x
Getting help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .x
Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
1 System Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1
System features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2
Block module storage system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-3
Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-3
Scalability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-3
High performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-4
High capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-5
Connectivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-5
High reliability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-5
Non-disruptive service and upgrades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-6
Economical and quiet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-6
File module storage system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-6
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-6
Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-7
Scalability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-7
Primary data de-duplication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-10
Consolidation and virtualization. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-10

Hitachi Unified Storage VM Product Overview Guide
iv Contents
Storage virtualization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-10
High flexibility and wide applicability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-10
Separation of server and storage functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-11
High namespace scalability. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-11
Advanced multitier storage mechanisms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-11
Effective data reduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-12
2 Hardware Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-1
Block module storage system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2
Controller chassis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-4
Drive boxes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-5
Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-7
File module storage system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-9
File module server. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-9
System management unit. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-11
Fibre channel (FC) switches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-11
External fast ethernet (10/100) or GigE switches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-11
10 GbE (10 Gigabit Ethernet) switches (cluster configurations only) . . . . . 2-12
3 Software Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-1
Block Module software features and functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2
Virtualization. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2
Performance Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2
Provisioning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2
Data Replication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-3
Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-4
System Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-4
Host Server software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-5
File module storage system software features and functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-5
Intelligent tiering. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-5
Data migrator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-5
Cross-volume links. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-5
Dynamic caching. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-6
Cluster read caching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-6
Data relocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-6
Data Protection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-7
High availability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-7
Snapshots. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-7
Space efficient clones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-8
Replication features. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-9
Object replication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-9
Block replication and SyncDR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-10
Backup features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-10

Contents v
Hitachi Unified Storage VM Product Overview Guide
4 Setup and configuration overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-1
Required setup tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-2
General task list. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-2
1. Site preparation tasks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-3
2. Startup tasks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-4
3. Basic system admin tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-4
4. Provisioning and configuration tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-5
5. Storage virtualization tasks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-6
6. Data replication and disaster recovery tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-6
Optional setup tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-6
1. Provisioning and configuration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-7
2. Performance monitoring and tuning tasks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-7
3. Troubleshooting and other tasks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-7
A Hitachi Unified Storage VM user guides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-1
Unified Storage VM user guides by topic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-2
Unified Storage VM user guides by number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-3
Glossary
Index

Hitachi Unified Storage VM Product Overview Guide
vi Contents

Preface vii
Hitachi Unified Storage VM Product Overview Guide
Preface
This manual provides instructions and information to use the Hitachi Unified
Storage VM storage system.
Read this document carefully to understand how to use this product, and
keep a copy for reference.
□Safety and environmental information
□Intended audience
□Release notes
□Product version
□Document revision level
□Changes in this revision
□Referenced documents
□Document conventions
□Convention for storage capacity values
□Accessing product documentation
□Getting help
□Comments

Hitachi Unified Storage VM Product Overview Guide
viii Preface
Safety and environmental information
Intended audience
This document is intended for system administrators, Hitachi Data Systems
representatives, and authorized service providers who install, configure,
and operate the Hitachi Unified Storage VM storage system.
Readers of this document should be familiar with the following:
• Data processing and RAID storage systems and their basic functions.
• The Hitachi Unified Storage VM storage system and the Hitachi Unified
Storage VM Block Module Hardware User Guide.
• The Storage Navigator software for the Hitachi Unified Storage VM
storage system and the Hitachi Storage Navigator User Guide.
Release notes
The Hitachi Unified Storage VM Block Module Release Notes provide
information about the HUS VM block module microcode (DKCMAIN and
SVP). A second set of release notes provides information about the HUS VM
file module NAS operating system (SU and SMU). Each of the release notes
describe the new features, functions, and changes. Both release notes are
available on the Hitachi Data Systems Portal: https://portal.hds.com
Product version
This document revision applies to Hitachi Unified Storage VM firmware
version 73-03-0xand later.
Document revision level
Changes in this revision
• Changed the name of this document from Getting Started Guide to
Product Overview Guide
• Reorganized and rewrote the contents of this manual to fit the new
manual name.
Caution: Before operating or working on the Hitachi Unified Storage VM
storage system, read the safety and environmental information in the
Hitachi Unified Storage VM Block Module Hardware User Guide.
Revision Date Description
MK-92HM7003-00 September 2012 Initial release
MK-92HM7003-01 December 2012 Supersedes and replaces MK-92HM7003-00
MK-92HM7003-02 March 2013 Supersedes and replaces MK-92HM7005-01
MK-92HM7003-03 May 2013 Supersedes and replaces MK-92HM7005-02
MK-92HM7003-04 October 2013 Supersedes and replaces MK-92HM7005-03

Preface ix
Hitachi Unified Storage VM Product Overview Guide
• Added File Module information to chapters 1, 2, and 3.
Referenced documents
A complete list of both HUS VM block module and file module documentation
is located in Hitachi Unified Storage VM user guides on page A-1.
Document conventions
Hitachi Data Systems user manuals use the following typographic
conventions as needed to clarify information.
Hitachi Data Systems user manuals use the following icons as needed to
draw attention to information.
Convention Description
Bold Indicates the following:
• Text in a window or dialog box, such as menus, menu
options, buttons, and labels. Example: In the Add Pair
dialog box, click OK.
• Text appearing on screen or entered by the user. Example:
The -split option.
• The name of a directory, folder, or file. Example: The
CacheInfo.csv file.
Italic Indicates a variable, which is a placeholder for actual text
provided by the user or system. Example: copy source-file
target-file
Angle brackets are also used to indicate variables.
Monospace Indicates text that is displayed on screen or entered by the user.
Example: # pairdisplay -g oradb
< > angle brackets Indicates a variable, which is a placeholder for actual text
provided by the user or system. Example: # pairdisplay -g
<group>
Italic is also used to indicate variables.
[ ] square brackets Indicates optional values. Example: [ a | b ] indicates that you
can choose a, b, or nothing.
{ } braces Indicates required or expected values. Example: { a | b }
indicates that you must choose either a or b.
| vertical bar Indicates that you have a choice between two or more options
or arguments. Examples:
[ a | b ] indicates that you can choose a, b, or nothing.
{ a | b } indicates that you must choose either a or b.
Icon Meaning Description
Tip Helpful information, guidelines, or suggestions for
performing tasks more effectively.

Hitachi Unified Storage VM Product Overview Guide
xPreface
Convention for storage capacity values
Physical and logical storage capacities of disk drives in Hitachi Data Systems
storage products are calculated based on the following values:
Logical storage capacity values (logical device capacity) are calculated
based on the following values:
Accessing product documentation
The Unified Storage VM user documentation is available on the Hitachi Data
Systems Support Portal: https://Portal.HDS.com. Check this site for the
most current documentation, including important updates that may have
been made after the release of the product.
Getting help
The Hitachi Data Systems customer support staff is available 24 hours a
day, seven days a week. If you need technical support, log on to the Hitachi
Data Systems support portal for contact information: https://
Portal.HDS.com
Important Information that is essential to the completion of a task.
Caution Failure to take a specified action can result in adverse
conditions or consequences such as damage to the software
or hardware
WARNING Failure to take a specified action can result in severe
conditions or consequences such as in loss of data or serious
damage to hardware.
ELECTRIC
SHOCK
HAZARD
Failure to take appropriate precautions such as not opening
or touching hazardous areas of the equipment could result
in injury or death.
Icon Meaning Description
Physical Disk Capacity
1 KB = 1,000 bytes 1 TB = 1,0004bytes
1 MB = 1,0002bytes 1 PB = 1,0005bytes
1 GB = 1,0003 bytes 1 EB = 1,0006bytes
Logical Disk Capacity (1 block= 512 bytes)
1 KB (kilobyte) = 1,024 bytes (210) 1 TB (terabyte) = 1,0244bytes
1 MB (megabyte) = 1,0242bytes 1 PB (petabyte) = 1,0245bytes
1 GB (gigabyte) = 1,0243bytes 1 EB (exabyte) = 1,0246 bytes

Preface xi
Hitachi Unified Storage VM Product Overview Guide
Comments
Please send us your comments about this document to:
[email protected]. Include the document title and number, including
the revision level (for example, -07), and refer to specific sections and
paragraphs whenever possible. All comments become the property of
Hitachi Data Systems.
Thank you!

Hitachi Unified Storage VM Product Overview Guide
xii Preface

1
System overview 1–1
Hitachi Unified Storage VM Product Overview Guide
System overview
This chapter provides an overview of the Hitachi Unified Storage VM storage
system. Detailed information is located in the Hitachi Unified Storage VM
Block Module Hardware User Guide.
NOTE: The Hitachi Unified Storage VM storage system may be installed only
by Hitachi Data Systems service personnel or authorized service partners.
However some high level installation information is included in this manual
and in the Hitachi Unified Storage VM Block Module Hardware User Guide
for reference.
□System features
□Block module storage system
□File module storage system

Hitachi Unified Storage VM Product Overview Guide
1–2 System overview
System features
The Hitachi Unified Storage VM storage system is an entry level enterprise
storage platform combining storage virtualization services with unified
block, file, and object data management. This versatile, scalable platform
offers a new storage virtualization system to provide central storage
services to existing storage assets. Unified management delivers end to end
central storage management of all virtualized internal and external storage.
A unique, hardware-accelerated, object-based file system supports
intelligent file tiering and migration, and virtual NAS functionality without
compromising performance or scalability.
Using this system, you can deploy virtual server applications within a new
storage virtualization framework, extend new services to your current
storage investments, and more closely align IT with business objectives by
enhancing capacity efficiency. Unified Storage VM storage systems provide
the foundation for matching application service requirements to different
classes of storage and for delivering critical services including:
• Virtualization of all storage assets
• Business continuity data protection services
• Simplified management of block, file and object data
• Host transparent data migration
• Dynamic storage tiering and thin provisioning
• High availability with scalable performance
• High reliability under all configurations and loads
• Non-disruptive service and upgrades
• Advanced file management services
• Secure multiple tenant partitioning
• Simplified, extremely easy-to-use data management
• A high degree of data protection for business
• Transparent data mobility for any number of different storage tiers
• The ability to reduce storage space through primary data de-duplication
and TDM
• Industry-leading scalability
• Exceptional performance
• Low total cost-of-ownership

System overview 1–3
Hitachi Unified Storage VM Product Overview Guide
Block module storage system
This section briefly describes the Unified Storage VM block module storage
system.
Overview
Hitachi Unified Storage VM block module storage systems contain new
technology that was not available in previous Hitachi Data Systems storage
systems. This technology is used to create a smaller, more efficient, cooler
running controller than the VSP controller, while using the same high speed
architecture.
Hitachi Unified Storage VM is based on a new block storage system powered
by a storage virtualization controller connected to the data drives and the
host servers. Its dual node, shared resource architecture creates a
redundant configuration in which the storage system can continue operation
should a component failure occur. Main components can be added,
removed, and replaced without shutting down a device and while the
storage system is in operation. The microcode can also be upgraded without
shutting down the storage system. A service processor that monitors the
operational status of the storage system is mounted in the controller
chassis. Connecting the service process with a Hitachi service center
enables remote maintenance.
The system can be configured starting with a single diskless system up to a
large, three-rack system that includes up to 1,152 HDD drives including up
to 128 SSD drives and up to 96 flash module drives, and a total of 256 GB
cache. The system provides a highly granular upgrade path allowing the
addition of file modules or data drives to the drive chassis in an existing
system as storage needs increase, all mounted in standard 19-inch racks.
A basic Unified Storage VM storage system consists of a controller chassis
and either no drives or one or more drive boxes that contain the hard disk
drives or solid state drives. Unified Storage VM supports multiple concurrent
operating systems to create a heterogeneous system environment.
Features
This section describes the main features of the Unified Storage VM block
module storage system.
Scalability
The Unified Storage VM storage system is highly scalable and can be
configured in several ways as needed to meet customer requirements.
• The minimum configuration is a single rack containing one controller
chassis in a diskless configuration.
• A single rack containing one controller chassis and up to seven dense
drive boxes or 16 standard drive boxes, or a combination of the two.
• The maximum configuration is a system that contains one controller
chassis and a combination of drive boxes containing a maximum of
1,152 drives, including 2-1/2 inch and 3-1/2 inch HDD or SSD drives,

Hitachi Unified Storage VM Product Overview Guide
1–4 System overview
and 5-1/4 inch flash module drives. The total storage space of this
configuration is 3,383 TB. The Hitachi Unified Storage VM Block Module
Hardware User Guide contains details about the data drives.
In addition to a varying number of data drives, the system can be
configured with disk drives of different capacities and speeds, varying
numbers of host I/O modules and back-end I/O modules, and varying cache
capacities, as follows:
• Two to four host I/O modules (each is a pair of boards). This provides a
total of 8 when all of the host I/O module slots are used and there are
no back-end I/O modules installed, as in a diskless system. The
maximum total number of host I/O modules and back-end I/O modules
is 8.
• Two to four back-end I/O modules (each is a pair of boards). This
provides a total of 8 when all of the back-end I/O module slots are used.
In this case only two host I/O modules can be installed.
• Cache memory capacity: multiple configurations from 32 GB to 256 GB
• Disk drive capacities of 300 GB, 600 GB, 900 GB, and 3TB
• Flash drive capacities of 200 GB, 400 GB and 800 GB
• Maximum available channel ports: 40 with disks, 48 if diskless
High performance
The HUS VM block module storage system includes several features that
provide very high system performance. These include:
• High speed disk drives that run at 7,200, 10,000, or 15,000 RPM
• SSD flash drives with ultra high speed response
• Flash module drives with ultra high speed response
• High speed data transfer between the back-end I/O module and HDDs
at a rate of 6 GBps with the SAS interface
Figure 1-1 Example HUS VM storage system configurations

System overview 1–5
Hitachi Unified Storage VM Product Overview Guide
• High speed quad core CPUs that provide the same performance as the
VSP system (three times the performance of a Universal Storage
Platform V/VM storage system).
High capacity
The HUS VM block module storage system supports the following high-
capacity features. See the Hitachi Unified Storage VM Block Module
Hardware User Guide for details.
• HDD (disk) drives with capacities of 300 GB, 600 GB, 900 GB and 3TB.
• SSD (flash) drives with capacities of 200 GB, 400 GB, and 800 GB.
• Flash module drives with a capacity of 1.6 TB each.
• Controls up to 16,384 logical volumes and up to 1,152 disk drives, and
provides a maximum physical disk capacity of approximately 3,383 TB
per storage system
Connectivity
Hitachi Unified Storage VM
The HUS VM block module storage system supports most major operating
systems, such as Microsoft Windows, Oracle Solaris, IBM AIX, Linux, HP-UX,
Novell Netware, SUSU Linux, Red Hat Linux, And VMware ESX Server. For
more complete information on the supported operating systems, go to:
http://www.hds.com/products/interoperability/index.htm. The system
supports the Fibre Channel host interface.
Storage Navigator
The required features for the Storage Navigator computer include operating
system, available disk space, screen resolution, CD drive, network
connection, USB port, CPU, memory, browser, Flash, and Java environment.
These features are described in Chapter 1 of the Hitachi Storage Navigator
User Guide.
High reliability
The HUS VM block module storage system includes the following features
that make the system extremely reliable:
• The system supports RAID6 (6D+2P/14D+2P), RAID5 (3D+1P/7D+1P),
and RAID1 (2D+2D/4D+4D). See the Hitachi Unified Storage VM Block
Module Hardware User Guide for more information on RAID levels.
• All main system components are configured in redundant pairs. If one of
the components in a pair fails, the other component performs the
function alone until the failed component is replaced. Meanwhile, the
storage system continues normal operation.
• The HUS VM block module storage system is designed so that it cannot
lose data or configuration information if the power fails. This is explained
in Battery backup operations in the Hitachi Unified Storage VM Block
Module Hardware User Guide.

Hitachi Unified Storage VM Product Overview Guide
1–6 System overview
Non-disruptive service and upgrades
The HUS VM block module storage system is designed so that service and
upgrades can be performed without interrupting normal operations. These
features include:
• All main components can be “hot swapped” — added, removed, and
replaced without any disruption while the storage system is in operation.
The components include the Main blade, Cache memory module, Control
PCB, Cache flash memory, power supplies, fans, disk drives, and flash
drives. However, while additional cache memory is installed, the channel
ports and drive ports of the affected cluster are blocked.
• A Service Processor mounted in the controller chassis monitors the
running condition of the storage system. Connecting the SVP with a
service center enables remote maintenance.
• The firmware (microcode) can be upgraded without disrupting the
operation of the storage system. The firmware is stored in shared
memory (part of the cache memory module) and transferred in a batch,
reducing the number of transfers from the SVP to the controller chassis
via the LAN. This increases the speed of replacing the firmware online
because it works with two or more processors at the same time.
Economical and quiet
The three-speed fans in the controller chassis and drive boxes are
thermostatically-controlled. Sensors in the units measure the temperature
of the exhaust air and set the speed of the fans only as high as necessary
to maintain the unit temperature within a preset range. When the system is
not busy and generates less heat, the fan speed is reduced, saving energy
and reducing the noise level of the system.
Power Saving Mode. When the storage system is in standby mode, the
disk drives spin down and the controller and drive chassis use significantly
less power. A system in standby mode uses approximately 70% of the
power that it uses during normal operation.
File module storage system
This section describes the Unified Storage VM file module.
Overview
The Hitachi Unified Storage VM file module features a hybrid core
architecture using the best properties of FPGA-based design to optimize
data movement coupled with high performance, multi-core processors for
efficient data management functions. Both classes of activity work at full
speed without an impact on the other. They can handle a number of
simultaneous workloads such as serving email to thousands of users and
hosting large scale OLTP applications, while maintaining high performance.
They also provide high IOPS performance and utilize built-in 10 Gigabit and
1 Gigabit Ethernet for high throughput NAS and iSCSI networking
connectivity. Up to 4 nodes in a single cluster will meet demands for scalable
storage with greater access, capacity and performance. Storage can be

System overview 1–7
Hitachi Unified Storage VM Product Overview Guide
added at any time to meet new application or business needs, or consolidate
disparate storage all with a single point of management, without downtime.
These systems offer a total usable capacity of from 4 to 8 PB under a single
namespace, all easily managed from a central system management
console.
The Hitachi File System is built around the object store, a collection of object
structures referring to data on disks , and a set of rules. These rules govern
the organizational layout and management of objects in the object store.
The techniques behind creating, copying, moving, migrating, and deleting
the objects in the object store make the Hitachi File System extremely
effective and efficient.
Tiered file systems decrease file access times by placing file metadata on
the highest performance storage, while file content is placed on storage with
less performance. A policy-based automatic file migration feature helps
organizations move data among storage and archive tiers whether internal
to the data center, or externally from remote or branch offices. The cluster
namespace functionality provides a single namespace with a directory
structure that is independent of where data actually resides in physical
storage. Virtual servers are used to group server resources to match the
needs of application or organizational requirements. In a clustered
environment, file systems can be quickly relocated among physical servers
for load balancing, and virtual servers automatically migrate in a cluster
failover scenario.
Features
This section describes the key features and benefits of the Unified Storage
VM storage system file module.
Scalability
The Unified Storage VM storage system file module is highly scalable and
can be configured in several ways as needed to meet customer
requirements, without impacting performance.
The Hitachi File System can support billions of files in a single file system
and millions of files in a single directory, while keeping directory search
times to a minimum and sustaining overall system performance. Combined
with cluster namespace, the Hitachi File System can support many
petabytes in a single unified namespace and present it all as a single file
system accessible to many concurrent hosts, through a single mount point
if desired.
The basic configuration is a single rack containing one NAS server and up to
8U of disk storage, as shown in the following figure.

Hitachi Unified Storage VM Product Overview Guide
1–8 System overview
The system can contain a single file module (Hitachi NAS Platform), or
several file modules operating as a cluster. Clusters using more than two
Hitachi NAS Platforms typically include 2 x 10Gbps Ethernet switches (one
is required, but two are recommended for redundancy). For instructions on
how to implement a cluster configuration, refer to the Server and Cluster
Administration Guide.
Figure 1-3 Example Unified Storage VM file module configurations on page
1-9 shows two examples of file module system configurations including a
rack containing up to two NAS servers, two system management units
(SMUs), two fibre channel switches, and up to 32U of storage per rack,
depending on the number of servers and system management units
installed. The hardware section following the figure describes the individual
system components.
Figure 1-2 Basic Unified Storage VM file module configuration
Item Description Item Description
1 Management block / server
(equivalent to block module
controller chassis)
2 Storage block (data drives)