Data
Storage
Technology Solutions
Cloud Generation
Storage
The fact that data volumes are exploding is old news. The challenge for organisations is not so much the storing of data, it’s managing it.
Effective data management is about taking control of data throughout its lifecycle, maximising its business value, reducing governance
risks and minimising costs.
The problem is traditional storage architectures are extremely inefficient, typically driving up costs in order to meet performance,
availability and business continuity goals. Over the horizon, cloud storage providers have appeared and they’re re-writing the rules,
providing bottomless pits of storage at low costs per terabyte. And yet, public cloud does not have all the answers; IT investors should
be looking at Cloud Generation Storage, which ticks all the benefit boxes of high business value, low governance risks and minimised
costs and which can be consumed in multiple ways (on-premise, hybrid and private cloud).
Data Management Challenges
Data has a lifecycle, driven in part by the needs of IT and the infrastructure it resides within. The mechanisms for protecting, using
and sharing data tend to create multiple copies, which exasperate the data management issue and cause huge inefficiencies. The path
through this lifecycle is often the same regardless of the content of the data. For example, personal pictures stored on a corporate
network drive are protected in the same way as sensitive contractually binding documents on the same drive. Then all of this data
tends to be retained indefinitely because no one deletes anything.
Up to 80% of file data is simply being preserved and may not have been accessed for 6 months or more. Some of this data will be
breaching governance rules and should have been deleted, for example personal information that’s governed by data protection rules.
What’s missing is the ability to treat data based on its content. Often this preserved data is sitting on expensive primary storage
systems whereas in reality, performance, availability and business continuity requirements are quite different from the “primary” data
and a lower cost tier of storage would be more appropriate.
The second issue with a generic data lifecycle is that it’s probably not aligned with the desired operational workflow of the business,
causing losses in staff productivity. For example, in a hospital, the output from a blood test may need to be stored alongside notes
about the patient’s symptoms, and then shared securely with a number of other departments. After a few weeks, it may need to be
retained in an archive but made accessible in an anonymous format to support analytics for predictive medicine. A digital X-Ray image
for the same patient, in A&E after breaking an arm, may have a completely different workflow. There are examples across all industries
where workflows or processes could be better supported by technology, especially for mobile applications.
Creating an environment that enables a tailored data lifecycle based on its content, and which directly supports the business workflows,
dramatically improves business value through staff productivity, can reduce governance risks and significantly reduce overall costs.
80% of data is “stale”, clogging up expensive primary storage
Create
Protect
Use
Share
Preserve
(up to 80% of file data
could be here)
• Not all data is equal
• Use the right type of storage
depending on where it is in
the lifecycle
The Solution
Traditional storage
13.000 € per TB of primary data
(refresh every 5 years)
Cloud Generation Storage
1.300 € per TB or 2,1 Cents per GB per month
(non-disruptive refresh)
Offsite tape storage
Backup to tape
data compliance
Replication for DR
Protection copies
Shared copies
User copies
powered by Hitachi Content Platform
single
instancing
metadata
self-healing
multi-site scale-out
encryption
version control
index / search
Write Once Read Many
compression
Primary Data
The Hitachi Content Platform (HCP) is cloud generation storage, delivering strong business outcomes and can be a superior
alternative to public cloud.
Reducing costs:
The cost of technology is continuing to reduce over time.
However, organisations are still continually reviewing their
investment options and now there’s a new kid on the block.
Public Cloud is offering storage where the costs per TB are an
order of magnitude cheaper. However, on closer inspection,
there are some caveats and limitations:
mobile devices), records management, privacy and data
protection (relating to personal information). With a growing
range of applications validated to work with HCP, it also
addresses a broad scope of use cases, including: scan and ingest
of physical records, email, callcentre voice recordings, web and
social feeds and more.
Although the costs for storing data can appear low, many
1 providers are charging up to 20 times more to retrieve that
data
Data sovereignty (physical location of data) is increasingly
2 important from a governance perspective, especially after
the Snowden revelations about snooping
IT decision makers are increasingly concerned about data
3 security, both in terms of protection against hacking and
the longevity of the service provider
Business Value:
HCP competes effectively with Public Cloud from a pricing
perspective whilst tackling a lot of its shortcomings. At
potentially a tenth of the cost of traditional storage, for a fully
replicated dual site configuration, HCP is cloud generation
storage, which can be delivered as an onsite solution, hybrid or
private cloud (through selected service providers).
Information Governance:
As a self-healing, WORM (write once read many) data store,
HCP is designed from the ground up to support compliance
needs. With in-built policy based data retention rules and data
shredding capabilities, HCP automates a number of governance
tasks including: business continuity, data classification,
eDiscovery, long term digital preservation, information security
(including out to remote offices or even
Information has a lifecycle that, in an ideal world, should reflect
the flow of information through an organisation’s processes.
This might even include the scanning and ingest of physical
records like letters, digital scans in a hospital, mortgage
documents, application forms and so on. At the same time,
many traditionally paper based services, are now going online
with many applications taking advantage of mobile devices like
tablets. Many of these newer applications can write directly to
“the cloud”. HCP supports a growing range of industry standard
protocols based on REST, http and even de-facto standards like
Amazon S3, which means these new apps can write directly to
HCP.
This flexibility enables the link between organisation workflow
and the digital information lifecycle. With HCP, data creation,
protection, usage, sharing, preservation or deletion can be
automated, improving staff productivity right out to end-users.
By helping to get data under management, HCP also makes it
easier to begin extracting insights from the data held. Analytics
platforms like Pentaho (part of the Hitachi group) can be used
to trawl through multiple data sources, providing information
visualisation and in turn, insights which can truly add to the
bottom line.
Hitachi Content Platform
Hitachi’s cloud generation storage is powered by the Hitachi Content Platform, providing a raft of unique features.
The system is made up of three logical layers:
Layer 1: Communication. This consists of a growing range of industry standard protocols enabling interaction with the store. Getting
data in and out of the store has to be easy, open and flexible so a wide range of applications can use it within an overall solution. The
open nature of the communication layer, coupled with the breadth of protocols supported, sets HCP apart from its competitors.
REST/HTTP(S)
Amazon S3
Openstack Swift
NFS
CIFS
WebDAV
SMTP
Layer 2: Intelligence. This is the heart of the system, where the features and functionality are defined in software with two major
roles. The first is that it elevates the underlying storage to create an object store, adding metadata capabilities for: index, search,
classification, retention policies and customisable uses. The second role is that of cloud broker, managing data across private cloud
storage media and optionally out to public cloud offerings. In the latter scenario, metadata can be retained on-premise enabling
index and search without incurring cloud provider access charges. HCP is designed from the ground up to support data compliance
needs, providing a unique mix of features including: retention policy based data shredding, self-healing (backupless), multi-tenant,
encryption, compression and single instancing.
Best in Class
Best in Class
Object Store
Hybrid Cloud Storage
Retention
Custom Metadata
and Search
Protection Security Compression
Single Instance
Multi-tenancy
Security
Automated
Cloud Broker
Transparent
Movement
Cost Savings
Layer 3: Physical storage. By treating the physical storage as a separate layer, HCP provides maximum flexibility. For instance, many
organisations like the idea of using public cloud but for security reasons prefer to use private cloud today. Customers can invest in
HCP knowing that it leaves the door open for using public cloud in the future, with zero impact on application integration. By using
commodity based storage and erasure coding technology, the cost per terabyte for private cloud storage can be reduced by up to 90%.
SAN attach
use existing
HDS storage
Spindown
disks on arrays
NFS Devices EC Commodity
storage
Private Cloud
Amazon S3
and compatible
Google Cloud
Microsoft
Azure
Public Cloud
Other…
HCP Use Cases
1 Data Mobility - HCP Anywhere includes an additional layer of functionality in the core HCP plus an app that can be loaded onto
edge devices like PC’s, laptops, tablets and mobile phones. Files can be flagged for synchronisation so they become available on
mobile devices that have the app loaded. Files can also be shared by simply sending a URL via email, avoiding potentially large
attachments. Access permissions are controlled through Active Directory within the organisation, or through a flexible password
schema for external recipients or extended workgroups.
2 Enterprise Content Management (ECM) - Traditional ECM systems are falling short of expectations with the advent of cloud
generation applications, which often run on mobile devices and speak directly to cloud storage. STAR Storage brings a more
flexible approach, enabling information lifecycles to be designed around organisation processes. Tightly integrated with HCP, this
solution can also help with migrations from traditional ECM solutions like Documentum and Alfresco.
3 Active Archive - With a 10:1 potential cost reduction for cloud generation storage versus traditional storage, there’s a compelling
reason to introduce an active archive. Experience indicates that up to 80% of unstructured data can be moved across, freeing up
space on primary systems and reducing total costs. HCP is compatible with a range of active archive applications including Veritas
Enterprise Vault, Commvault Simpana, Moonwalk and native policy based file migration within Hitachi NAS.
1 Data Mobility
HCP Anywhere
2 Enterprise Content
Management
STAR Storage
Content
platform
7 Remote Office
Hitachi Data Ingestor
6 Information Governance
Veritas, VMware, Brocade
3 Active Archive
Veritas, Moonwalk
4 Health - Vendor
Neutral Archive
Hitachi Clinical Repository
5 Callcentre Voice Recordings
Verint, Nice
4 Clinical Repository - HCP is complemented by an additional layer of software enabling communication with systems within a
hospital environment, such as scanners (MRI, X-Ray and Oncology), nursing stations and EPR systems. The solution is branded as
the Hitachi Clinical Repository. Patient data can be securely shared across departments, unlimited by the applications that created
the data. Additional functionality can be included which incorporates other parts of the workflow within hospitals, such as: ingest
of paper records and forms, integration with mobile devices, dashboards and portals for example.
5 Call Centre Voice Recording - Call centres are generating more and more voice recording data, within a setting where governance
rules are increasingly stringent. Voice recordings may have to carry weight of evidence in court, or at least form part of binding
agreements between parties. Long-term retention, and more importantly, the ability to search and retrieve recordings based on
their content (transcripts) is a common requirement. Verint and Nice, the two leading software applications being used to manage
voice recordings in call centres, can be integrated with HCP, and can leverage its governance and metadata capabilities.
6 Information Governance - HCP is designed to support data compliance (retention policies, security, encryption, multi-tenancy,
data shredding and more). All of the other applications shown in this list can take advantage of these features, as all data types
must conform to governance rules. This is such a strong advantage of the HCP that it’s also identified here as a use case in its own
right. Other applications can complement the use of HCP including: HNAS, VMware (NSX), Veritas (Enterprise Vault, Data Insight,
Clearwell) and Brocade (vADC, VCS fabric).
7 Remote Office - Hitachi Data Ingestor (HDI) is available as a low cost appliance, or as software only which sits in the remote
office. It acts as a local NAS device to provide a file share. In the background, HDI synchronises files to the HCP in the core, which
is itself a self-healing, backupless environment. In this way, traditional backup for remote offices is completely eliminated. Local
storage requirements are minimised through active archive policies, part of the HDI’s function. Files over a certain size, or files
that have not been modified for a pre-determined period, will be stubbed, freeing up space in the remote office.
Other - Many new cloud generation applications are in development around the world. HCP, with its flexible, open communications
layer, is an ideal target for these applications allowing organisations to retain management control of the data generated. Watch
this space as a whole raft of as yet unimagined use cases emerge, opening up new worlds of opportunity.
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