Hitachi Data Systems showed at HIMSS06 last week in San Diego its TagmaStore Network Storage Controller, model NSC55, which blends enterprise-class functionality with a modular, rackmounted, small footprint package to meet the business needs of entry-level enterprises and fast-growing midsize organizations, while supporting distributed or departmental applications in large enterprises. The NSC55 is powered by the Hitachi Universal Star Network crossbar switch architecture, and delivers the innovative controller-based virtualization, logical partitioning, and universal replication introduced with the category-creating Hitachi TagmaStore Universal Storage Platform for open systems and mainframe environments. Now, smaller organizations can enjoy the same benefits as large enterprises in deploying and managing their storage infrastructure. The NSC55 supports advanced storage management and data replication features previously not available in modular storage. Users can aggregate heterogeneous storage devices into a virtual pool, manage it through a single console using a common set of tools, simplify storage environments, maximize the use of existing resources, and reduce their total cost of ownership. The NSC55 is the foundation for Application Optimized Storage solutions for mainframe and open systems environments, storage area management, business continuity, data protection, storage consolidation and simplification, and tiered storage for data lifecycle management and compliance applications.