Blogs

Automating Rolling Firmware Updates for Azure Local & Windows Hyper-V Clusters with Ansible

By Imran Shaik posted 5 days ago
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Introduction Firmware upgrades in production environments are often treated with caution—and for good reason. A poorly executed update can lead to downtime, service disruption, or even cluster failure. This becomes even more critical in Azure Local & Windows Hyper-V clusters , where taking down nodes parallelly —even briefly—can bring everything offline. To solve this, we built a fully automated rolling firmware upgrade framework using Ansible, integrated with ILO   tooling like Smart Update Manager (SUM) and iLO REST (ilorest) . The goal was simple: Perform firmware updates without downtime , without manual intervention , and with ...
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What We’re Bringing to Red Hat Summit 2026 — and Why It Matters

By Jeff Cheng posted 5 days ago
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If you’re heading to Red Hat Summit 2026 in Atlanta, come find us at Booth 133 . We organized the booth around the conversations customers are actually having with us — not around product silos. The presentation comes with great navigation, so booth staff can jump directly to the topic that matters most: AI, virtualization modernization, cyber resilience, or trusted hybrid cloud. Think of it as four high-level stories — 100, 200, 300, and 400 — with sixteen solution areas underneath. Here’s the preview. 100 — Sustainable + Responsible AI ...
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New Hitachi Vantara CSI turbocharging Red Hat OpenShift / Virtualization

By Paul Morrissey posted 6 days ago
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At Hitachi Vantara, we have been on a journey with some of the key vendors leveraging kubernetes to bring a strong virtualization infrastructure for virtual machines in addition to a container orchestration experience to meet the realities of our current and soon to be new enterprise customers. One of those partners is Red Hat and we are participating  and presenting our latest solutions at their Red Hat Summit 2026 this week. For Hitachi Vantara, we have key segments we serve including financial, healthcare, federal, technology and other key segments where expectations are high both from a reliable VSP One data storage services and/or integrated solution experience ...
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Unlocking Storage‑Speed Recovery with Veeam and Hitachi USAPI v2.2

By Muthuraman Deivanayagam posted 04-15-2026
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New Launch Alert!!!! Ransomware doesn't wait. Neither should your recovery. Hitachi Plug-in for Veeam Backup & Replication · USAPI v2.2 · Launch Thrilled to announce the launch of the Hitachi Plug-in for Veeam Backup & Replication (USAPI v2.2) — a significant step forward in enterprise data protection for Hitachi VSP storage environments. "When ransomware hits, the question isn't whether your data is backed up — it's whether your recovery is clean, fast, and guaranteed. This release answers that." What we built This release centers on deep snapshot-based integration between Veeam and Hitachi VSP ...
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Advanced Snapshots to Immutability: IRIS database Protection on Hitachi VSP via HDPS

By Dipta Kundu posted 04-07-2026
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This blog provides a deep, end-to-end walkthrough of how InterSystems IRIS database is protected, from intelligent content discovery to atomic application quiescence using the ExternalFreeze mechanism using HDPS. It further explores how Hitachi TIA SafeSnap snapshots are created and committed at the storage layer, and how these snapshots enable both rapid out-of-place recovery and long-term immutable tiering to VSP One Object storage. Section A: Introduction - Why Hardware Snapshots for IRIS?  The integration of InterSystems IRIS with Hitachi Virtual ...
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Automating NVMe/TCP Setup Between VMware ESXi and Hitachi VSP One Block with Ansible

By Vinod Subramaniam posted 04-01-2026
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Setting up NVMe over TCP between a VMware ESXi host and a Hitachi Vantara VSP One Block 28 storage array involves a lot of steps — creating storage volumes, configuring subsystems, setting up networking, and connecting everything together. Doing this manually is tedious and error-prone.   This post walks through a set of six Ansible playbooks that automate the entire process end-to-end. What You're Building The goal is simple: connect an ESXi host to a VSP One Block 28 over NVMe/TCP using two 100Gbps NICs for multipath connectivity. The automation handles both the storage side and the host side. ESXi Host                         ...
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Scalability and Configuration Guidelines for LUN and Pod Density in RedHat OpenShift with Cisco UCS and Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform

By Arvin Jami posted 03-31-2026
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As enterprise Kubernetes deployments continue to scale, aligning infrastructure limits across compute, storage, and orchestration layers becomes critical. In environments combining Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform (RHOCP), Cisco Unified Compute System (UCS), and Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform (VSP) with Hitachi Container Storage Interface (CSI), Logical Unit Number (LUN) scalability and pod density are tightly coupled variables that directly impact performance, stability, and operational predictability. This blog outlines key configuration limits and design considerations to help ensure a balanced, scalable deployment. Cisco UCS Virtual Interface ...
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How to Configure FC-NVMe in AIX with Hitachi VSP One Block 20 Series Storage

By Surajit Choudhury posted 03-31-2026
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Overview & Objectives: This blog offers a comprehensive, step-by-step guide for provisioning Fibre Channel Non-Volatile Memory Express (FC-NVMe) storage disks—specifically Non-DRS volumes—from the Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform One Block 20 (VSP One B20) family to IBM POWER servers running the IBM AIX operating system, using Hitachi RAID Manager (CCI) . Beyond basic provisioning, this guide explores essential configuration tasks, including: ·          Setting up multipathing for high availability ·          Modifying default device parameters in the Hitachi AIX Object Data Manager (ODM) ·          ...
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Index Engine's CyberSense Policy Job Phases

By Malaya Acharya posted 03-31-2026
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Author: @Bhakta Sahoo Introduction This blog shows phases of cybersense policy execution. CyberSense Overview CyberSense helps organizations recover from ransomware quickly and reliably by ensuring trusted data integrity. It’s the only cyber resilience solution that uses AI trained on real ransomware to detect ransomware-induced data corruption with 99.99% accuracy—so you can identify clean recovery points, restore clean data, and minimize the impact of a cyber-attack. Policy job phases and Actions The CyberSense workflow follows a sophisticated, multi-phase process that begins with system authentication ...
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Index Engine’s CyberSense Configuration and Scan on VSP One B20

By Malaya Acharya posted 03-31-2026
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Author: @Bhakta Sahoo Introduction This blog provides a detailed overview of the installation, configuration, and volume scanning process in Index Engine’s CyberSense. CyberSense is a cybersecurity and data integrity software solution developed by Index Engine. It is designed to detect ransomware attacks, data corruption, and other malicious activities in block data by analyzing Thin Image Advanced safe snaps.   Environment                                                             Figure 1:  Index Engine environment ...
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Universal Replicator Journals for Hitachi Open Systems

By Shubhadip Pal posted 03-31-2026
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Introduction Universal Replicator (UR) operations involve two storage systems. One of the systems is located at the primary site, called main control unit, and the other system is located at the secondary site, called remote control unit. The primary storage system controls the P-VOL and the following operations: Host I/Os to the P-VOL P-VOL data copy to the master journal The secondary storage system controls the S-VOL and the following operations: Initial copy and update copy between the P-VOL and the restore journal Journal commands to the primary storage system Journal data copy from the master journal to the restore ...
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Understanding DRS no-ADR Volumes in Hitachi VSP One BHE

By Sumit Keshri posted 03-31-2026
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What is DRS no-ADR Volume? A DRS no-ADR volume is a specialized storage volume in Hitachi VSP One BHE systems that supports Thin Image Advanced (TIA) pair operations (along with Shadow Image and remote replication products) but does not apply capacity saving features such as compression or deduplication. DRS no-ADR volume has the capability to enable control data (metadata) to be aware of data management of the Redirect-on-Write (ROW) snapshot function. While working with DRS no-ADR volumes, a temporary increase in pool usage capacity is expected, which should be considered during capacity planning. Managing DRS no-ADR Volume ...
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Accelerating DevOps in the Hybrid Cloud: How Hitachi VSP One SDS Block and Red Hat OpenShift Transform CI/CD at Scale

By Chayan Sarkar posted 03-30-2026
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In today’s digital enterprises, software delivery speed defines competitiveness. Organizations are modernizing applications, moving to microservices, and embracing hybrid cloud models to gain flexibility and scale. Yet one persistent challenge slows DevOps teams everywhere: storage . Storage is the backbone of the CI/CD pipeline—powering Git operations, builds, tests, deployment artifacts, and stateful application data. But in hybrid cloud environments, storage often becomes the bottleneck. Public‑cloud block storage can deliver inconsistent performance, on‑prem storage can be difficult to integrate with cloud‑native workflows, and replication across sites ...
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Rethinking OpenShift Storage on Google Cloud: Why VSP One SDS Block Wins

By Chayan Sarkar posted 03-30-2026
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As enterprises accelerate their shift toward hybrid cloud, one requirement has become non‑negotiable: a storage platform that delivers enterprise‑grade consistency, performance, and resilience—no matter where workloads run. Red Hat OpenShift has established itself as the leading enterprise Kubernetes platform for deploying modern, containerized, and stateful applications. But as organizations run more databases, analytics engines, and event‑streaming workloads on OpenShift, the choice of persistent storage becomes critical. While Google Cloud Hyperdisk is a strong native option, many businesses quickly run into its architectural limitations when running ...
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Automating SAP HANA Full-Stack Installation by Hitachi Vantara

By Chandan Kumar posted 03-30-2026
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Automating SAP HANA Full-Stack Installation by Hitachi Vantara If you've ever been part of an SAP HANA deployment project, you already know the drill. The storage team carves out LUNs. The Linux team configures kernel parameters. The SAP Basis team downloads gigabytes of installation media, manually runs the installer, and hopes nothing breaks. It's a multi-day, multi-team effort, and somewhere in the middle, someone always misses a step. What if you could hit one command and watch the whole thing deploy itself? That's exactly what we built with the SAP HANA Full-Stack Installation Ansible Playbook Pipeline , a fully automated, ...
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Bringing Hitachi VSP One Block Storage into Splunk SIEM

By Karthik Raja Balasubramanian posted 03-27-2026
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Why We Built This Enterprise storage does not live in isolation. Servers, networks, applications, and security systems are already monitored inside SIEM platforms, and Splunk is the most widely deployed among them. But storage? Storage has always been the missing piece. Teams managing Hitachi VSP One Block storage arrays had rich, granular metrics available inside VSP 360, but that data never made it into the same operational dashboards where the rest of the infrastructure was visible. We believed this gap was worth closing for every customer running Hitachi VSP One Block storage arrays in a Splunk-centric environment. Storage observability should ...
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WSFC 2025 (Hyper-V) — Blended Storage Coexistence (S2D + Hitachi VSP One Block SAN)

By Jeff Cheng posted 03-05-2026
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This blog describes how  Windows Server Failover Clustering (WSFC) on Windows Server 2025 can use Storage Spaces Direct (S2D) volumes and external SAN volumes on Hitachi VSP One Block side‑by‑side within the same cluster. The intent is to reflect a joint Hitachi Vantara + Microsoft approach that preserves customer choice: Microsoft provides the virtualization and clustering platform primitives, while Hitachi Vantara provides enterprise SAN storage and associated operational patterns for performance, resiliency, and data services.   Key idea: This mixed topology is a supported, flexible architectural pattern (described as “Hyperconverged ...
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Best Practices for Writing Ansible Playbooks

By Henry Chu posted 03-04-2026
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Introduction Hitachi Ansible modules for VSP One Block and VSP One Object provide a simplified and automated way to configure and manage Hitachi storage systems, enabling seamless integration with Ansible playbooks and workflows.  These modules are used to perform specific tasks within playbooks.  Below are some best practices for creating playbooks with Hitachi’s Ansible modules.  Encrypt sensitive data Simplify tasks with Ansible roles Organize tasks and handlers Use dynamic inventory Documentation Test and validate playbooks The sections below will dive into each of these best practices. Encrypt Sensitive Data ...
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Hitachi Data Protection Suite (HDPS) Migration: Get to the Cloud and Back

By James Byrne posted 03-04-2026
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Introduction Every cloud migration project seems to start with the same document: how do we get to the cloud? It’s usually detailed and step-by-step. The document that’s often missing is just as important: how do we get back out if we need to? HDPS is typically viewed as a backup and recovery platform, but it can also be used as a practical migration tool. If migration is the act of bringing workloads up somewhere else with confidence, then a platform built for reliable restore operations can become the backbone of that move. This approach has two big advantages: you can rehearse the migration before cutover, and you can treat “exit” as a planned ...
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Hitachi Data Protection Suite (HDPS) VMware Backup: Selecting the Proper Transport

By James Byrne posted 03-02-2026
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Hitachi Data Protection Suite (HDPS) VMware Backup Transport Modes: NBD vs HotAdd vs SAN A practical guide to choosing the right data path for faster, safer VMware backups and restores with Hitachi Data Protection Suite. When a VMware backup “feels slow,” the bottleneck is often not your backup target or your dedupe ratio - it is the path your backup infrastructure uses to read virtual disk blocks out of vSphere. In VMware image-level protection, that path is controlled by the transport mode. The same HDPS storage policy can perform very differently depending on whether the data is being pulled over the LAN (NBD), read locally inside the cluster (HotAdd), ...
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