IBM and Hitachi Push Storage Interoperability

It's nice when the big boys work and play well together, especially if it makes the lives of IT folks easier. IBM and Hitachi just let us know about a technology agreement that will extend interoperability between the companies' storage servers and allow customers to more easily deploy open storage networks. Hitachi has licensed storage APIs for IBM's Enterprise (Shark) Storage Server so that Hitachi servers will be compatible with IBM's Peer to Peer Remote Copy (PPRC) and Extended Remote Copy (XRC), and will now be able to include IBM functions like FlashCopy, Multiple Allegiance, and Parallel Access Volumes (PAV) on Hitachi's Freedom Storage and Lightning 9900 systems. In return, Hitachi has licensed APIs for the Lightning 9900 to IBM. IBM can now support Hitachi's NanoCopy and ShadowImage on its Shark server. On a side note, Hitachi just announced a corporate monitor trade-in program where corporations can get financial credit toward the purchase of a new Hitachi monitor for every working monitor they trade in. Ship the old dogs back to Hitachi and they'll take care of getting rid of them in an environmentally friendly manner as well. Corporate customers can get details about the program by calling (in the U.S.) 1-800-441-4832. Even better, figure out how to donate the monitors to schools or other organizations who need them.