Hitachi Data Systems, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE:HIT) today announced plans to help customers address regulatory compliance and data management requirements through strategic enhancements to its industry-leading Hitachi Lightning 9900(TM) V Series family of enterprise storage systems. In addition, the company announced software products that enable customers to deploy multi-tiered storage configurations and build robust business continuity platforms. Unlike many storage vendors, which enforce a closed, locked view of data lifecycle management and data retention, Hitachi Data Systems leverages customers' existing investments to manage and retain data throughout its entire lifecycle across existing platforms. In addition, Hitachi Data Systems is the only storage vendor that enables data to be moved directly between modular and enterprise storage systems without host intervention. This flexibility enables multi-tier storage solutions with higher performance and lower overall costs. "Companies are understandably concerned with the impact of emerging regulations," said Steve TenBarge, Vice President, Storage Infrastructure Management, Hitachi Data Systems. "Hitachi's Open LDEV Guard, HiCopy, and Three Data Center Copy represent important steps in our plans to help customers address critical business requirements while creating fully compliant data environments. On our own, and with ISVs, we will introduce new products and services on an ongoing basis to help customers meet these evolving regulations." Data Retention Hitachi Data Systems today announced an open systems version of its LDEV Guard data retention manager -- fully integrated into all Lightning 9900 V Series storage systems -- that allows customers to preserve and protect sensitive enterprise information. Functioning as a WORM (Write Once Read Many), Open LDEV Guard enables immutable record retention and the creation of compliant storage environments. Once data has been written, it can be retrieved and read by authorized applications, but not altered or deleted, for the mandated retention period -- a function not integrated into any other vendor's storage offering. In addition, Open LDEV Guard properties are preserved through Hitachi ShadowImage(TM) in-system replication, Hitachi TrueCopy(TM) remote replication, or HiCopy cross-system replication between the Lightning 9900 V Series and Thunder 9500 V Series storage systems. The value of data changes over time, and while retention is important, matching the value of the data with the cost of storage is critical. To help companies store data cost-effectively, HiCopy facilitates non-disruptive, policy-based data migration across tiers of storage to where it makes the best economic sense. For I/O-intensive data applications, Hitachi today announced 15K RPM/73GB hard disk drives -- an excellent balance of price and performance. "Customers are now empowered to execute a multi-tiered storage strategy," said Tony Prigmore, a Sr. Analyst at the Enterprise Storage Group, "by leveraging Hitachi Data Systems' comprehensive suite of storage systems and data replication and movement software products. HiCommand provides a central management point, further improving customer efficiency." Business Continuity Another important consideration in meeting regulatory requirements is the ability to comply with the terms of resumption of service agreements. Rapid resumption of service (SLAs) is increasingly mandated by industry and government organizations. As part of today's announcements, Hitachi introduced Three Data Center Copy, which provides secure, rapid resumption of service, regardless of the scope of disaster or incident. By concurrently utilizing proven Hitachi TrueCopy synchronous and asynchronous replication technologies across data centers in multiple geographic regions, delivery of SLAs are assured. Three Data Center Copy is implemented for mainframe environments using Hitachi CopyCentral(TM), which automates centralized enterprise-wide management of Hitachi TrueCopy and ShadowImage software through a single, consistent management interface. Additionally, Hitachi introduced eCopy, which provides serverless backup between the Lightning 9900 V Series systems and a variety of supported tape drives. By leveraging ShadowImage technology, server overhead typically associated with backups are eliminated. Consolidation Making the most of existing systems and consolidating enterprise storage resources is top-of-mind for enterprise storage administrators. By doubling the maximum cache capacity from 64GB to 128GB, doubling control memory from 3GB to 6GB in the Hi-Star(TM) architecture, and providing non-disruptive field upgrade capabilities, Hitachi is providing the products needed to reduce TCO and improve ROI. In fact, Hitachi Data Systems is currently shipping an average of 16 terabytes per Lightning 9900 V Series system, a 220% increase from when the product was originally introduced in May, 2002. "United Airlines Loyalty Services purchased the Lightning 9900 V Series system to consolidate our storage infrastructure and to reduce costs," said Gary Pilafas, Senior Systems and Storage Architect, United Airline Loyalty Services. "As a result, we were able to more than double performance and capacity which allowed us to spend more time ensuring that our customers were able to access flight and awards information in real time -- a huge advantage in a very competitive market." Finally, to help mainframe customers further consolidate their storage environments, Hitachi has announced a 50% increase in ESCON connectivity to 48 ports, while broader support for FICON Cascading increases flexibility for other mainframe users. Pricing and Availability Prices for the Hitachi Lightning 9900 V Series range from $200,000 to $8 million, depending on model and configuration. Key hardware enhancements to the Lightning 9900 V Series are available now. Other features will be available within the next 90 days.