Hitachi NAS Platform provides all the storage features required to support a wide range of VMware applications and deployments. Its ability to simplify data protection and its storage efficiencies, high performance and massive scalability make HNAS an optimal solution for your VMware deployment. For more information on Hitachi Unified Storage and Hitachi NAS Platform 4000 series please visit: http://www.hds.com/products/file-and-content/network-attached-storage/?WT.ac=us_mg_pro_hnasp

1. Storage Is Critical for Maximizing Data Protection,
Capacity and Performance
Deploying a virtualization environment that delivers the
data protection, efficiency and performance you require
while returning maximum value is no simple task. You
must overcome challenges of data lifecycle management,
virtualization workloads and capacity inefficiencies. You
must also address service level objectives related to
provisioning, backing up and restoring. Meeting these
challenges calls for a storage solution uniquely designed
and optimized for VMware workloads and environments.
Realize the Lowest NAS Storage Total Cost of Ownership
Within VMware Environments
SOLUTIONPROFILE
Enterprises are reaping the enormous benefits of virtu-
alization, from consolidation and lowered IT expenses
to a more agile organization. IT decision-makers are
increasingly choosing VMware to extend the value of
their existing data center investments. However, of
the 3 primary data center components — servers,
network and storage — data storage is often the most
overlooked path to virtualization success. Fulfilling
the high demands of applications running on virtual-
ized servers requires the addition of network storage
resources designed for the task.1
In fact, achieving the most predictable, reliable and
repeatable VMware performance and fastest time
to value takes more than just adding more storage
resources. Achieving data protection, capacity, perfor-
mance and scalability demands a balanced storage
solution. It must address the data management
challenges of virtual machine (VM) sprawl, improve
utilization, deliver I/O performance, and scale as busi-
ness needs change.
1
IDC, “Worldwide Storage and Virtualized x86 Environments 2012 –
2016 Forecast,” July 2012.

2. SOLUTION PROFILE
Hitachi network attached storage (NAS)
solutions address the challenges of VMware
virtual server and virtual desktop infrastruc-
ture (VDI) environments by delivering:
■■ Data protection: Reduce risk and
empower VM administrators to apply
data management best practices and
improve availability with fast backups,
granular restores and cost-effective disaster
recovery.
■■ Storage efficiency: Intelligently manage
VM growth and achieve high VM densi-
ties, improve storage utilization by tiering
and archiving stale user data, which
reduces capacity needs and capital
expenditure (capex).
■■ Virtualization performance: Streamline
VM lifecycle management by anticipating
I/O performance and offloading tasks,
such as virus scanning, cloning and boot
storms, reducing overhead on the back-
end storage system.
■■ Scalability: Stay ahead of VM sprawl
with an object-based file system and
scalable virtual file servers.
Hitachi leverages decades of expertise in cre-
ating high-performance storage solutions. We
deliver a storage platform optimized to meet
the needs of VMware environments running
a wide spectrum of virtualized applications,
including VDI. Hitachi storage solutions are the
engine that accelerates your path to realizing
the value from your VMware investment. You
gain a centralized storage resource that sim-
plifies data protection and VM creation while
meeting critical storage efficiency and perfor-
mance objectives.
The HNAS architecture offers a converged,
high-performance, scalable network stor-
age system that helps solve the most
challenging data protection, efficiency and
performance concerns. HNAS provides fast
snapshot, replication and cloning utilities.
These utilities save IT administrators time,
allowing them to grow their VMware deploy-
ment and extend data protection best
practices while freeing up storage capac-
ity and reducing costs. To free up critical
I/O, storage systems within HNAS offload
common virtualization workloads, reducing
overhead on the back-end storage system.
Enhance Data Protection
Efficient, scalable, consistent and managed
virtual machine backup removes single
points of failure.
■■ Logically and reliably protect thousands of
VMs from a single point of management.
■■ Node clustering, automatic failover and
snapshot copies replicate data for fast
disaster recovery.
■■ New VMs are automatically protected,
easing the burden on storage administration.
Improve Capacity Efficiency and Value
Gain a single point of administration for stor-
age connected to VMware ESX clusters.
■■ Provision hundreds of VM clones with
less space in less time and effort.
■■ Intelligently manage data tiering while
improving storage utilization and
consolidation.
■■ Fast, efficient clone creation and provi-
sioning reduces IT and storage hardware
expenses.
Accelerate Performance and Scalability
Innovative, flexible storage technology
ensures VMware applications deliver top
performance.
■■ Efficiently manage the VM lifecycle and
intelligently anticipate fluctuating I/O
workloads.
■■ Object-based file system and virtual file
servers perform faster and scale up to
32PB per cluster.
■■ Avoid performance and retention issues
associated with VMware hypervisor-based
VM snapshots.
■■ Reduce virtualization complexity while
reducing the need for more IT staff.
Virtualized Environments
Demand Unique Storage
Capabilities
Virtualized infrastructures are simply not
the same as their nonvirtualized counter-
parts. Virtualization eliminates data silos
and improves resource utilization by man-
aging pooled discrete resources. However,
virtualization workloads can tax system
requirements because I/O varies greatly
between peak workload (boot, log-in and
virus scan storms) and steady-state work-
load. This also forces the need for almost
instantaneous, granular recovery of VMs,
fast snapshots, deduplication and improved
recovery point and recovery time objectives
(RPO and RTO).
As VM environments grow, storage admin-
istrators must clone VMs and create and
restore snapshots more frequently, generat-
ing efficiency and data management issues.
IT also must have fast replication in place to
move secondary copies to off-site recovery
locations. Administrators need to address
storage capacity and density through nondis-
ruptive tiering to free up inactive or stale user
data, while properly sizing storage resources.
Improperly sized storage results in greater
hardware requirements and expenses.
What’s more, these issues become more
difficult to overcome as the virtualized envi-
ronment grows, placing further burdens on
the VM data management lifecycle.
Realizing the most value from a virtualized
VMware infrastructure calls for an integrated,
high-performance solution, one that is opti-
mized from the storage architecture to the
data management center.
Hitachi Data Systems Delivers
the Optimal Storage Solution
for VMware
You need a way to realize the most value
from your virtualization investment. Hitachi
presents Hitachi NAS Platform (HNAS), a
high-performance architecture that com-
bines advanced data management with
an integrated storage ecosystem. HNAS
platforms operate in combination with the
comprehensive Hitachi technology frame-
work. These integrated components deliver
an optimized storage solution that efficiently
addresses the unique storage requirements
of VMware environments.
Hitachi NAS Platforms
and Hitachi NAS Virtual
Infrastructure Integrator
allow you to quickly
deploy a VMware-
optimized storage
solution that delivers the
highest data protection,
efficiency and value.

3. Why HNAS for VMware
Environments?
A VMware environment’s unique workload and
lifecycle management tasks call for a storage
solution designed for efficiency, scalability
and data protection. The HNAS architecture
is uniquely tailored for virtualization deploy-
ments that require high-performance, scalable
storage to drive revenue, improve efficiency
and speed time-to-market. Tight integration
between VMware vCenter, Hitachi NAS Virtual
Infrastructure Integrator and BlueArc JetMirror
gives administrators access to storage-based
services like VM backup, recovery and rep-
lication. This access frees up ESX server
resources to focus on application workloads.
Deep Data Protection
With thousands of virtual desktops running
simultaneously, the risk of losing critical data
is a constant concern. BlueArc JetMirror cre-
ates object-based, space-efficient snapshots
of VM sessions usable as recovery points for
fast restoration.
■■ Improve replication performance by 2 to
3 times, while boosting incremental repli-
cation up to 25 times.
■■ Object replication enables fast failover in
the event of a disaster, eliminating dupli-
cate hardware at multiple locations.
■■ Boost responsiveness through real-time
discovery and reporting on storage health
and data usage.
■■ Seamless integration with Hitachi NAS
Virtual Infrastructure Integrator and
VMware vCenter provides quick and effi-
cient data management for virtual server
and VDI environments.
www.hds.com/innovate
Innovation is the engine of change, and
information is its fuel. Innovate intelligently
to lead your market, grow your company,
and change the world. Manage your
information with Hitachi Data Systems.
Table 1. Hitachi NAS Platform: Optimized for VMware Environments
Business Challenge Hitachi NAS Platform
Feature
Benefits
Data management is too
complex
Hitachi NAS Virtual
Infrastructure Integrator (VII)
provides unlimited virtual
machine (VM) snapshots
Automatically clone and
backup VMs for deep
data protection
Difficult and slow to
create snapshots and
replicate VMs
VII pointer-based or storage-
based snapshots and BlueArc
JetMirror replication
Enable VM, VMDK or
individual file restore
from vCenter interface
and fast replication
Ineffective management
of data growth
VII primary deduplication
and Hitachi Data Tiering
(HDT)
Improve system per-
formance and storage
efficiency at a lower costHigh storage capital
expenditure
Poor storage monitoring
capabilities
VII cloning and VAAI Expose accurate stor-
age utilization and
reduce VM sprawl
Can’t meet SLAs
because of unpredict-
able I/O performance
Hybrid core architecture Achieve consistent I/O
performance
VM lifecycle manage-
ment is too complicated
VII and BlueArc JetClone Simplify and automate
the VM data manage-
ment lifecycle
Must future-proof stor-
age through scalability
32PB per cluster, native
block plus native file
Scale the VMware
environment without
sacrificing performance
■■ Manage storage-based snapshots directly
from vCenter for flexible scheduling and
automated backups (see Figure 1).
Improve Capacity and Efficiency
Using the right disk for the right data
while creating efficient snapshots is often
a manual task. NAS Virtual Infrastructure
Integrator and HNAS deduplication
create efficient snapshots and replicas for
improved storage efficiency.
■■ Mix high-performance disks with lower
cost disks while still achieving the same
high performance.
■■ Reduce the number of spindles by 30%
while improving performance by 10%.
■■ Archive VMs so they can be safely
deleted.
■■ Improve storage utilization with VMware
vSphere Storage APIs for Array Integration
(VAAI), reducing storage allocation by 95%.
■■ Consolidate and improve utilization of
3rd-party storage.
■■ Add storage capacity when necessary,
distributing data dynamically across avail-
able storage to optimize capacity and
efficiency.
Figure 1. Manage Directly From vCenter.

4. © Hitachi Data Systems Corporation 2013. All rights reserved. HITACHI is a trademark or registered trademark of Hitachi, Ltd. Innovate With Information is a trademark or registered
trademark of Hitachi Data Systems Corporation. All other trademarks, service marks, and company names are properties of their respective owners.
Notice: This document is for informational purposes only, and does not set forth any warranty, expressed or implied, concerning any equipment or service offered or to be offered by
Hitachi Data Systems Corporation.
SP-153-A DG June 2013
Corporate Headquarters
2845 Lafayette Street
Santa Clara, CA 96050-2639 USA
www.HDS.com
Regional Contact Information
Americas: +1 408 970 1000 or info@hds.com
Europe, Middle East and Africa: +44 (0) 1753 618000 or info.emea@hds.com
Asia Pacific: +852 3189 7900 or hds.marketing.apac@hds.com
High Performance
HNAS and NAS Virtual Infrastructure
Integrator optimize VMware workloads and
lifecycle management, delivering the optimal
platform for high-performance, high-I/O and
data-intensive environments.
■■ Offloads I/O-intensive operations and
quickly clone space-efficient VMs with
95% less space in 99.9% less time.
■■ Clone or back up a 1TB VM in 9
seconds.
■■ Support vSphere and file-serving work-
loads concurrently.
■■ Internal operations are 25% faster; hybrid
core means performance stays consistent
as opposed to CPU-based design that
causes I/O performance to deteriorate.
■■ HNAS hybrid core architecture excels at
addressing heavy random-I/O profiles.
■■ NAS Virtual Infrastructure Integrator used
with VMware vCenter frees up ESX server
resources to focus on serving application
workloads.
Extreme Scalability and Integration
HNAS scales up to a multinode cluster
with I/O balancing occurring automatically,
simplifying administration while delivering a
high-performance VMware environment that
evolves as your needs change.
■■ Scale to 8 nodes in a single storage
cluster to meet expanding demands
with enhanced access, capacity and
performance.
■■ Add storage to meet new application
or business needs, or to consolidate
disparate storage into a single point of
management, without requiring additional
overhead or downtime.
■■ Provision multiple file systems for a
massive capacity of up to 16PB under
a single namespace, 32PB for a single
cluster.
■■ Gain a single point of NFS management
with the integrated vSphere/vCenter
plug-in.
■■ Support for VMware vStorage API for
Storage Awareness (VASA), which enables
visibility from vCenter into the storage
system, physical storage resources, and
information based on topology, capability
and component state.
Addresses Network Storage
Requirements
Hitachi NAS Platform systems provide a
flexible, powerful set of solutions for your
VMware vSphere needs. All HNAS platforms
deploy the industry-leading file system,
Hitachi NAS Virtual Infrastructure Integrator
cloning, and BlueArc JetMirror object-based
replication to deliver a complete storage eco-
system. These solutions support a full range
of IT requirements, price points, applications
and user loads.
Summary
Hitachi NAS Platform provides all the storage
features required to support a wide range
of VMware applications and deployments.
Its ability to simplify data protection and its
storage efficiencies, high performance and
massive scalability make HNAS an optimal
solution for your VMware deployment. Gain
peace of mind that you can deploy and sup-
port thousands of virtual machines from one
centrally managed storage system while real-
izing the most value from your investment.
By addressing the most demanding vir-
tualization, data protection and storage
challenges, Hitachi Data Systems high-
performance storage solutions meet the
challenge of extensive data growth, VM
sprawl and highly transactional, I/O-intensive
operations. Choosing the right storage
system is the most critical design decision
to help guarantee a VMware deployment’s
success, while lowering both capex and
operating expenditures (opex).
■■ Deep data protection.
■■ High capacity.
■■ Efficient utilization.
■■ High performance
and scalability.
■■ Optimized for VMware.
Hitachi NAS Platform
with Hitachi NAS Virtual
Infrastructure Integrator
simplifies the VM lifecycle.