Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform User manual

Product Version
Document Organization
Getting Help
F AST F IND L INKS
Contents
Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform
User and Reference Guide
MK-90RD7042-11

Hitachi VSP User and Reference Guide
ii
©2010-2013 Hitachi Data Systems Ltd, All rights reserved.
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Contents iii
Hitachi VSP User and Reference Guide
Contents
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
Safety and environmental information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .viii
Intended audience. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .viii
Product version. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .viii
Document revision level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .viii
Changes in this revision . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
Referenced documents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
Document organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
Document conventions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .x
Convention for storage capacity values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
Accessing product documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
Getting help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
Comments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-1
Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2
Hardware overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2
Controller chassis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-4
Drive Chassis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-5
Flash chassis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-5
Features. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-6
Scalability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-6
High performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-7
High capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-8
Connectivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-8
Virtual Storage Platform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-8
Storage Navigator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-8
High reliability. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-8
Non-disruptive service and upgrades. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-9
Economical and quiet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-9
Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-9
System capacities with flash modules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-11
Software features and functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-12

Hitachi VSP User and Reference Guide
iv Contents
2 Functional and Operational Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-1
System architecture overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2
Hardware architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2
RAID implementation overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2
Array groups and RAID levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-3
Sequential data striping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-5
LDEV striping across array groups. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-5
CU images, LVIs, and logical units. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-6
CU images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-6
Logical volume images. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-6
Logical units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-7
Mainframe operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-7
Mainframe compatibility and functionality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-7
Mainframe operating system support. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-8
Mainframe configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-8
System option modes, host modes, and host mode options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-8
System option modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-8
Host Modes and host mode options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-55
Open-systems operations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-55
Open-systems compatibility and functionality. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-55
Open-systems host platform support. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-55
Open systems configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-56
Storage Navigator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-56
3 System Components. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-1
Controller chassis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2
System control panel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-5
Drive chassis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-5
Flash components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-8
Flash module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-8
Flash box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-9
Flash chassis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-10
Flash configurations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-11
Flash RAID configurations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-12
Cache memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-13
Memory operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-14
Data Protection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-14
Shared memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-14
4 Power On/Off Procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-1
Safety and environmental information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-2
Standby mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-2
Normal Power On/Off procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-3
Power On procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-3
Power Off procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-4

Contents v
Hitachi VSP User and Reference Guide
Emergency power off/on procedure. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-4
Emergency power off procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-4
Power on procedure after emergency power off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-5
Battery backup operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-5
Cache destage batteries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-6
Battery life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-6
Long Term Array Storage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-6
5 Troubleshooting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-1
Getting help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-2
Solving problems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-2
Service Information Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5-2
A Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-1
Mechanical specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-2
Electrical specifications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-2
Environmental specifications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-6
Equipment noise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-7
Heat output and air flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-7
PDU specifications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-8
B Comparing Universal Storage Platform V/VM and Virtual Storage
Platform B-1
Comparison of USP V/VM and VSP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-2
C Regulatory Compliance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C-1
Regulatory compliance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C-2
US FCC Notice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C-4
Electronic emissions testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C-4
European Declaration of Conformity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C-4
Notice of export controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C-5
Hazardous and toxic substances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C-5
Disposal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C-5
Recycling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C-6
Electronic emissions certificates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C-6

Hitachi VSP User and Reference Guide
vi Contents

Preface vii
Hitachi VSP User and Reference Guide
Preface
This manual provides instructions and information to use the Hitachi Virtual
Storage Platform storage system.
Read this document carefully to understand how to use this product, and
keep a copy for reference.
This preface includes the following information:
□Safety and environmental information
□Intended audience
□Product version
□Document revision level
□Changes in this revision
□Referenced documents
□Document organization
□Document conventions
□Convention for storage capacity values
□Accessing product documentation
□Getting help
□Comments

Hitachi VSP User and Reference 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 are involved in
installing, configuring, and operating the Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform.
Readers of this document should have at least the following knowledge and
experience:
• A background in data processing and an understanding of RAID storage
systems and their basic functions.
• Familiarity with the Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform, the Storage
Navigator software that runs on it, and the Hitachi Storage Navigator
User Guide.
• Familiarity with the operating system and web browser software on the
system hosting the Storage Navigator software.
Product version
This document revision applies to Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform firmware
version 70-06-0xand later.
Document revision level
Caution: Before operating or working on the Virtual Storage Platform,
read the safety and environmental information in Regulatory Compliance on
page C-1.
Revision Date Description
MK-90RD7042-00 August 2010 Initial release
MK-90RD7042-01 November 2010 Supersedes and replaces MK-90RD7042-00
MK-90RD7042-02 December 2010 Supersedes and replaces MK-90RD7042-01
MK-90RD7042-03 April 2011 Supersedes and replaces MK-90RD7042-02
MK-90RD7042-04 August 2011 Supersedes and replaces MK-90RD7042-03
MK-90RD7042-05 November 2011 Supersedes and replaces MK-90RD7042-04
MK-90RD7042-06 February 2012 Supersedes and replaces MK-90RD7042-05
MK-90RD7042-07 June 2012 Supersedes and replaces MK-90RD7042-06
MK-90RD7042-08 November 2012 Supersedes and replaces MK-90RD7042-07
MK-90RD7042-09 November 2012 Supersedes and replaces MK-90RD7042-08
MK-90RD7042-10 July 2013 Supersedes and replaces MK-90RD7042-09
MK-90RD7042-11 August 2013 Supersedes and replaces MK-90RD7042-10

Preface ix
Hitachi VSP User and Reference Guide
Changes in this revision
The following items are changed in this revision of the manual:
• Updated SOM 900 information.
• Removed 3-1/2 in. 400 GB SSD drive from Chapter 1 and Chapter 3.
• Added the 3.2 GB flash module to Chapters 1 and 3. Updated the
environmental specifications table with flash module information.
Referenced documents
Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform documentation:
•Hitachi Storage Navigator User Guide, MK-90RD7027
•Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform Documentation Roadmap, MK-
90RD7039
•Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform Installation Planning Guide, MK-
90RD7041
Document organization
The following table provides an overview of the contents and organization
of this document. Click the chapter title in the left column to go to that
chapter. The first page of each chapter provides links to the sections in that
chapter.
Chapter/Appendix Description
Chapter 1, Introduction This chapter provides an overview of the Virtual
Storage Platform hardware and software.
Chapter 2, Functional and
Operational Characteristics This chapter provides a brief description of the Virtual Storage Platform architecture.
Chapter 3, System
Components This chapter provides a more detailed description of the hardware than chapter 1.
Chapter 4, Power On/Off
Procedures This chapter describes the procedures to power the Virtual Storage Platform storage system on and off,
and also provides information about the battery
backup for the cache memory.
Chapter 5, Troubleshooting This chapter provides basic troubleshooting
information for the Virtual Storage Platform storage
system.
Appendix A, Specifications This appendix proves the mechanical, electrical,
environmental, and other specifications for the Virtual
Storage Platform storage system.
Appendix B, Comparing
Universal Storage Platform V/
VM and Virtual Storage
Platform
This appendix describes the differences between the
Virtual Storage Platform and the Universal Storage
Platform V/VM.
Appendix C, Regulatory
Compliance This appendix describes the regulatory laws and requirements that the Virtual Storage Platform
adheres to.
Glossary Defines the special terms used in this document.
Index Lists important topics in this document in alphabetical
order.

Hitachi VSP User and Reference Guide
xPreface
Document conventions
This document uses the following typographic conventions:
This document uses the following icons to draw attention to information:
Convention Description
Bold Indicates text on a window, other than the window title,
including menus, menu options, buttons, fields, and labels.
Example: Click OK.
Italic Indicates a variable, which is a placeholder for actual text
provided by the user or system. Example: copy source-file
target-file
Note: Angled brackets (< >) are also used to indicate
variables.
screen/code Indicates text that is displayed on screen or entered by the
user. Example: # pairdisplay -g oradb
< > angled brackets Indicates a variable, which is a placeholder for actual text
provided by the user or system. Example: # pairdisplay -g
<group>
Note: Italic font 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 Tips provide helpful information, guidelines, or suggestions
for performing tasks more effectively.
Note Notes emphasize or supplement important points of the main
text.
Caution Cautions indicate that failure to take a specified action could
result in damage to the software or hardware.
WARNING Warnings indicate that failure to tae a specified action could
result 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.

Preface xi
Hitachi VSP User and Reference Guide
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 VSP 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
Comments
Please send us your comments on this document:
[email protected]. Include the document title, number, and revision.
Please refer to specific sections and paragraphs whenever possible.
Thank you! (All comments become the property of Hitachi Data Systems.)
Logical Units: Block Size - 512 Bytes (Logical Disk Capacity)
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
Hard Disk Drives (HDDs) (Physical Disk Capacity)
1 KB = 1,000 bytes 1 TB = 1,0004bytes
1 MB = 1,0002bytes 1 PB = 1,0005bytes
1 GB = 1,0003bytes 1 EB = 1,0006bytes

Hitachi VSP User and Reference Guide
xii Preface

1
Introduction 1–1
Hitachi VSP User and Reference Guide
Introduction
This chapter provides a brief description of the hardware and software used
in the Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform storage system. Detailed information
is located in Chapter 2, Functional and Operational Characteristics on page
2-1, and Chapter 3, System Components on page 3-1.
□Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform overview
□Hardware overview
□Features
□Specifications
□Software features and functions

Hitachi VSP User and Reference Guide
1–2 Introduction
Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform overview
The Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform is a high-capacity, high performance
data storage system that offers a wide range of storage and data services,
software, logical partitioning, and simplified and unified data replication
across heterogeneous storage systems. Its large-scale, enterprise-class
virtualization layer combined with dynamic provisioning, Dynamic Tiering,
and thin provisioning software, delivers virtualization of internal and
external storage into one pool.
Using this system, you can deploy applications within a new framework,
leverage and add value to current investments, and more closely align IT
with business objectives. VSP storage systems provide the foundation for
matching application requirements to different classes of storage and
deliver critical services including:
• Business continuity services
• Content management services (search, indexing)
• Non-disruptive data migration
• Thin provisioning
•DynamicTiering
• High availability
• Security services
• I/O load balancing
• Data classification
• File management services
New technological advances improve reliability, serviceability and access to
disk drives and other components when maintenance is needed. Each
component contains a set of LEDs that indicate the operational status of the
component. The system includes new and upgraded software features,
including Dynamic Tiering, and a significantly improved, task-oriented
version of Storage Navigator that is designed for ease of use and includes
context-sensitive online help. The system documentation has been changed
to a task-oriented format that is designed to help you find information
quickly and complete tasks easily.
Hardware overview
Virtual Storage Platform systems contain significant new technology that
was not available in previous Hitachi Data Systems storage systems. The
system can be configured in many ways, starting with a small, one rack,
diskless system, to a large, six-rack system that includes two controller
chassis, up to 2048 HDD drives, up to 256 SSD drives, up to 96 Flash
Module Drives, and a total of 1TBcache. The system provides a highly
granular upgrade path, allowing the addition of disk drives to the drive
chassis, and Virtual Storage Directors (microprocessors) and other
components to the controller chassis in an existing system as storage needs
increase. Virtual Storage Platform systems can be combined so that what
would previously have been two separate storage systems are now a single

Introduction 1–3
Hitachi VSP User and Reference Guide
storage system with homogeneous logic control, cache, and front end and
back end interfaces, all mounted in standard Hitachi Data Systems 19-inch
racks.
A basic Virtual Storage Platform storage system consists of a controller
chassis and one or more drive chassis that contain the data drives. The
system includes a control rack (Rack-00) that contains a controller chassis,
and may be either diskless (no drive chassis) or may contain one or two
drive chassis in the same rack. Each drive chassis can contain one of three
drive types: SFF HDDs or SSDs, LFF HDDs or SSDs, or Flash Module drives.
The controller chassis contains the control logic, processors, memory, and
interfaces to the drive chassis and the host servers. A drive chassis consist
of disk or SSD drives, power supplies, and the interface circuitry connecting
it to the controller chassis. The remaining racks (Rack-01 and Rack- 02)
contain from one to three drive chassis.
The following sections provide descriptions and illustrations of the Hitachi
Virtual Storage Platform storage system and its components.
Figure 1-1 Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform

Hitachi VSP User and Reference Guide
1–4 Introduction
Controller chassis
The controller chassis (factory designation DKC) includes the logical
components, memory, disk drive interfaces, and host interfaces. It can be
expanded with a high degree of granularity to a system offering up to twice
the number of processors, cache capacity, host interfaces and disk storage
capacity.
The controller chassis includes the following maximum number of
components: two service processors, 512 GB cache memory, four grid
switches, four redundant power supplies, eight front-end directors, four
back-end directors, and ten dual fan assemblies. It is mounted at the
bottom of the rack because it is the heavier of the two units. If a system has
two SVPs, both SVPs are mounted in controller chassis #0.
The following illustration shows the locations of the components in the
controller chassis. The controller chassis is described in more detail in
System Components on page 3-1.
Figure 1-2
Item Description Item Description Item Description
Power Supply
2, 3 or 4 units per
controller
Service Processor
One or two units in the #0
controller chassis.
FED (front-end director)
Grid switches FED (up to 8, and
BED (back-end director)
(up to 4)
Cache (2 to 8 boards)
Virtual Storage Directors
(2 to 4 microprocessor boards)

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Hitachi VSP User and Reference Guide
Drive Chassis
A VSP storage system can contain up to three types of data drives. Each
type of drive is mounted in a chassis that holds only that type of drive. Drive
types cannot be intermixed within the same drive chassis.
The HDD/SSD drive chassis (factory designation DKU) contains either disk
(HDD) drives or flash (SSD) drives, eight SAS switches, and two 8-fan
“door” assemblies that can be easily opened to allow access to the drives.
There are two types of DKU drive chassis. One type can contain up to 80 3-
1/2 inch HDD disk drives or SSD flash drives. The second type can contain
up to 128 2-1/2 inch HDD disk drives or SSD flash drives.
The maximum number of 3-1/2-inch drives in a Virtual Storage Platform is
1280. The maximum number of 2-1/2 drives is 2048. The maximum
number of Flash Module drives is 96. Details are located in System
Components on page 3-1.
Flash chassis
In addition to the chassis for disk and/or flash drives, a second type of
chassis can be installed in a VSP system. A flash chassis (factory
designation FBX) is a cluster of four flash boxes (trays), as shown in the
following illustration. Each flash box contains up to 12 flash modules
(factory designation FMD). A flash chassis contains up to four flash boxes
and 48 flash modules.
Figure 1-3 Drive chassis

Hitachi VSP User and Reference Guide
1–6 Introduction
A VSP single module system (3 racks) can contain up to two flash chassis.
Therefore, the maximum number of flash modules is 96 per VSP module or
192 per two module (6-rack) system.
The flash chassis, flash box, and flash module are described in detail in
System Components on page 3-1.
Features
This section describes the main features of the Virtual Storage Platform.
Scalability
The Virtual Storage Platform is highly scalable and can be configured in
several ways as needed to meet customer requirements:
•Theminimum configuration is a single rack containing one controller
chassis in a diskless configuration.
• A small VSP system could include a single rack containing one controller
chassis and one or two disk drive or flash chassis.
• A mid-sized VSP system could include one to three racks containing one
controller chassis and up to eight drive chassis. A LFF drive chassis can
contain up to 80 3-1/2 inch disk drives. A SFF drive chassis can contain
a combination of up to a total of 128 2-1/2 disk and SSD data drives. An
Drive sizes can be intermixed within a system but not within a drive
Figure 1-4 Flash chassis

Introduction 1–7
Hitachi VSP User and Reference Guide
chassis. Different chassis are required for the 2-1/2 inch data drives, 3-
1/2 inch, and 5-1/2 inch flash module drives. See Table 1-2 Drive
Specifications on page 1-11 for details.
•Themaximum configuration is a six-rack twin version of the above
that contains two controller chassis and up to 16 drive chassis containing
up to 2048 2-1/2 inch disk drives or 1280 3-1/2 inch disk drives. The
total storage space of this configuration is 2-1/2 PB. A six-rack system
can contain a maximum of 192 1.6 TB flash module, with a maximum
capacity of 307.2 TB.
In addition to the number of disk drives, the system can be configured with
disk drives of different capacities and speeds, varying numbers of FEDs and
BEDs, and varying cache capacities, as follows:
• Two to six FEDs (each is a pair of boards). This provides a total of 12
when all of the FED slots are used and there are no BEDs installed, as in
a diskless system. The maximum total number of FEDs and BEDs is 12.
• Two to four BEDs (each is a pair of boards). This provides a total of 8
when all of the BED slots are used. In this case only two FEDs can be
installed.
• Cache memory capacity: 512 GB per module / 3-rack system, and 1TB
per two modules / 6-rack system)
• HDD (disk) drives with capacities of 146 GB, 300 GB, 600 GB, 900 GB,
2 TB and 3TB.
• Flash drive capacities of 200 GB and 400 GB
• Flash modules with a capacity of 1.6 TB and 3.2 TB
• Channel ports: 80 for one module, 176 for two modules.
High performance
The Virtual Storage Platform includes several new features that improve the
performance over previous models. These include:
Figure 1-5 Example Virtual Storage Platform storage system
Configurations

Hitachi VSP User and Reference Guide
1–8 Introduction
• High speed disk drives that run at 7,200, 10,000, or 15,000 RPM
• Flash drives with ultra high speed response
• Flash modules with response times faster than SSDs.
• High speed data transfer between the BED and HDDs at a rate of 6 GBps
with the SAS interface
• High speed quad core CPUs that provide three times the performance of
a Universal Storage Platform V/VM storage system.
High capacity
The Virtual Storage Platform supports the following high-capacity features.
See Table 1-2 Drive Specifications on page 1-11, for details.
• HDD (disk) drives with capacities of 146 GB, 300 GB, 600 GB, 900 GB,
2 TB and 3TB.
• Flash drive capacities of 200 GB and 400 GB
• Flash modules with a capacity of 1.6 TB or 3.2 TB each.
• The VSP controls up to 65,280 logical volumes and up to 2,048 disk
drives, and provides a maximum physical disk capacity of approximately
2.521 PB per full storage system.
Connectivity
Virtual Storage Platform
The Virtual Storage Platform storage system supports most major IBM
Mainframe operating systems and Open System operating systems, such as
Microsoft Windows, Oracle Solaris, IBM AIX, Linux, HP-UX, and VMware. For
more complete information on the supported operating systems, go to:
http://www.hds.com/products/interoperability/index.htm
Virtual Storage Platform supports the following host interfaces. They can
mix within the storage system.
• Mainframe: Fibre Channel (FICON)
• Open system: Fibre Channel
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 Virtual Storage Platform storage system includes the following features
that make the system extremely reliable: