Hitachi Data Systems Helps Bring Hollywood Blockbusters to the Big Screen for Soho VFX

Hitachi NAS Platform Provides Highly Efficient Data Management Solution for Leading Visual Effects Studio

SANTA CLARA, Calif.— March 4, 2013 — Hitachi Data Systems Corporation (HDS), a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE: 6501), today announced that Toronto-based visual effects post-production studio Soho VFX leverages Hitachi NAS Platform (HNAS) to store and manage its most complex visual effects. In the postproduction process, multiple terminals are needed to handle large amounts of image data quickly and efficiently, putting a high demand on the overall performance of Soho VFX’s IT infrastructure. To meet these demands, Soho VFX uses the high performance and scalable Hitachi platform, which efficiently stores and manages the massive image data and makes it secure and instantly accessible. These capabilities lower the total cost of ownership, migrate data more quickly, and enable more reiterations of shots because renders are completed more quickly.

“Our relationship with Soho VFX demonstrates the importance of IT infrastructure to key brands that cannot afford to take risks with their mission-critical operations,” said Ravi Chalaka, vice president, Solutions Marketing, Hitachi Data Systems. “Soho VFX has to manage challenges similar to those of many enterprise businesses — reliability, data protection, agility, and efficiency. Hitachi NAS Platform solves these challenges by enabling media and entertainment companies to accelerate business operations and drive success.”

“Hitachi NAS Platform continues to evolve with us, which is imperative due to increased work demands and diminished timelines,” said Allan Magled, co-founder, Soho VFX. “Things are constantly changing and thanks to Hitachi Data Systems technology, we are able to handle it every time.”

Founded in 2002 by Allan Magled, Berj Bannayan and Mike Mombourquette, Soho VFX is a full-service media house for 3-D animation and compositing. The list of credits for its visual effects is long and impressive. Among the many standouts are: “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 and Part 2,” and “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” for 20th Century Fox. The studio’s current projects slated for theatrical release in 2013 and 2014 include “47 Ronin,” “Robo Cop,” “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” and “Jack the Giant Slayer” for Warner Brothers. “Jack the Giant Slayer” began to be released worldwide on February 28, 2013. As Soho VFX continues to grow and expand its project portfolio, NAS Platform will continue to provide dramatic scalability in capacity and performance, supporting better visual effects.

About Hitachi NAS Platform:
Hitachi NAS Platform is an advanced and integrated NAS solution. It is a powerful tool for file sharing as well as file server consolidation, data protection and business critical NAS workloads. Hitachi NAS Platform is well suited to data center environments as well as the workloads of medium organizations and remote data centers.

About Hitachi Data Systems Communications, Media and Entertainment Solutions

Hitachi Data Systems provides products and services specifically designed for CME environments. These solutions deliver dynamic capabilities that help customers deal with critical challenges in capacity, performance and reliability. The company’s CME portfolio spans from the Hitachi NAS Platform to the highly scalable and reliable distributed object store, Hitachi Content Platform (HCP) and the intelligent, easy-to-manage Hitachi Unified Storage(HUS) family.

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About Hitachi Data Systems

Hitachi Data Systems provides information technologies, services and solutions that help companies improve IT costs and agility, and innovate with information to make a difference in the world. Our customers gain compelling return on investment (ROI), unmatched return on assets (ROA), and demonstrable business impact. With approximately 5,900 employees worldwide, Hitachi Data Systems does business in more than 100 countries and regions. Our products, services and solutions are trusted by the world's leading enterprises, including more than 70% of the Fortune 100 and more than 80% of the Fortune Global 100. Visit us at www.HDS.com.

About Hitachi, Ltd.

Hitachi, Ltd. (TSE: 6501), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a leading global electronics company with approximately 320,000 employees worldwide. Fiscal 2011 (ended March 31, 2012) consolidated revenues totaled 9,665 billion yen ($117.8 billion). Hitachi is focusing more than ever on the Social Innovation Business, which includes information and telecommunication systems, power systems, industrial, transportation and urban development systems, as well as the sophisticated materials and key devices that support them. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company's website at http://www.hitachi.com.

© Hitachi Data Systems Corporation 2013. All rights reserved. HITACHI is a trademark or registered trademark of Hitachi, Ltd. Innovate With Information is a trademark or registered trademark of Hitachi Data Systems Corporation. All other trademarks, service marks, and company names are properties of their respective owners.

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