G1000 Storage Array Install/Config
G1000 Storage Array
My next class for Hitachi Vantara is THI2526 – Installing, Configuring and Maintaining Hitachi Virtual Storage Platform G1x00 and F1500, from 8-April to 12-April, in Columbus, OH.
This class is a “hardware” course. It’s for employees of Hitachi Vantara who do the work on these arrays.
Enterprise Storage
The G1000/G1500 are big-picture, “enterprise” storage arrays. They can hold over a thousand hard drives. This is the sort of storage larger companies, government agencies, and the military use.
These arrays range in size from one rack to six. Companies use smaller-size configurations to support specific uses, such as supporting their server virtualization infrastructure. Other companies prefer to buy the larger configurations and run a number of applications and projects from them.
Customer Service and Support
For all we talk about “the cloud,” at some level, “cloud” becomes real hardware that stores your data. Companies like Google and Amazon use arrays like the Hitachi G1000/G1500 series to store your cloud-based stuff. There’s a lot of components that go into these arrays. While the quality of those parts is very good, much higher levels than the parts in your laptop or home PC, things still fail. When that happens, the CEs, Customer Engineers, of Hitachi’s Customer Service and Support division (CS&S) respond to the customer. These are the folks who also come out to do the initial installations of the storage arrays.
Design, Configure, Install
In THI2526, we teach the CEs how to Design – plan out the components needed for the customer’s tasks. They learn how to Configure the array, then they Install the hardware and put it all together. As instructor, I take them through the process, then turn them loose on actual storage arrays in our Global Learning data center. The students do a lot of hands-on work. The more they touch the hardware, the more confident they are when they go to a customer site.