Hitachi Content Platform is a distributed storage system designed to support large, growing repositories of fixed-content data. HCP provides a cost-effective, scalable, easy-to-use repository that can accommodate all types of data, from simple text files to medical images to multigigabyte database images.
A fixed-content storage system is one in which the data cannot be modified. HCP uses write-once, read-many (WORM) storage technology and a variety of policies and services to ensure the integrity of the stored data and the efficient use of storage capacity.
HCP can run on either a SAN (Storage Area Network)-attached array of independent nodes (SAIN) or a networked redundant array of independent nodes (RAIN).
SAIN systems include both internal storage in each node and Fibre-Channel SAN arrays. RAIN has only internal storage in each node.
HCP VM systems (called VM systems) run on virtual machines in a VMware® environment or KVM environment. An HCP VM system functions mostly as a RAIN system, with the virtual storage emulating internal storage.
What follows is a brief overview of HCP basics. For a more in-depth introduction to HCP, see the HCP System Management Help.