Hitachi Data Systems is building out is lineup of converged infrastructure systems and introducing the first in a new portfolio of hyperconverged appliances.
The company this week unveiled an enhanced Unified Computer Platform (UCP) 2000 that expands the virtualization and storage options for the converged system that was first introduced last year. At the same time, Hitachi Data Systems (HDS) rolled out the UCP HC V240, the first product in the company’s new family hyperconverged data center infrastructure. Both systems target midmarket customers who are looking for infrastructure options that bring greater simplicity, flexibility and scalability to enable them to better address changing demands in data centers that are being impacted by such trends as cloud computing, data analytics and mobility.
“We are seeing increasing demand to provide integrated systems that are reliable, trusted, and certified cost-optimal, from core to edge across the enterprise,” Thomas Trela, senior director of solutions and cloud at HDS, said in a statement.
The broad converged infrastructure market is growing quickly, according to IDC analysts. In a report issued this week, the analysts said that the space saw revenues in the first quarter hit $2.5 billion, an 11 percent year-over-year increase. The hyperconverged segment is the smallest, but fastest segment of the market, generating sales of $371.88 million during the first three months of the year, a 148 percent increase over the same period last year.
“End users within the midmarket and even in the outer edge of the enterprise data center continue to prioritize simplicity in all aspect of the user experience,” Kevin Permenter, senior research analyst for computing platforms at IDC, said in a statement. “This is at the heart of the rapid growth rate within hyperconverged systems.”
Integrated infrastructures are defined by IDC as offering pre-integrated, vendor-certified systems that contain servers, disk storage, networking equipment and basic system management software. Hyperconverged systems put core storage and compute functionality into a single, virtualized solution, according to the analysts. In the hyperconverged space, all compute and storage functions can be provided through the same server-based resources.
With the UCP 2000, HDS officials are expanding the virtualization and storage capabilities of the 2U (3.5-inch), four-node rack infrastructure. The system already could support VMware’s virtualization technologies. Now that support has been expanded to Microsoft’s Hyper-V technology and the open-source OpenStack software. In addition, support for HDS’ VSP G200 virtual storage technology has been extended to support other HDS storage offerings, including VSP F600 all-flash arrays.
The UCP 2000 is an entry-level system aimed at such workloads as virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI), databases, and test and development environments, as well as general-purpose applications, officials said.
The UCP HC V240 offers highly virtualized pools of capacity that offer greater flexibility and can be changed on demand. The system features hardware powered by Intel processors and HDS’ software, and is certified as a VMware Virtual SAN Ready Node platform and is powered by the virtualization vendor’s Hyper-Converged Software stack, they said.