Hitachi Vantara Alternative
Modernize Your Storage Infrastructure with Simplyblock™
Simplyblock delivers agile, high-performance storage through a pure software-defined model. If you're seeking an alternative to Hitachi Vantara’s rigid hardware model, simplyblock removes those limitations and supports seamless access across cloud and on-prem environments. With multi-tenancy, Kubernetes-native integration, and NVMe-over-TCP, simplyblock lets teams deploy, scale, and manage storage without complexity.
Challenges with Hitachi Vantara
Costly Storage Operations
Vantara storage demands premium hardware and licenses, driving high total costs and limiting financial flexibility.
Scalability Barriers
Scaling Vantara requires hardware extensions and downtime, adding cost, risk, and complexity to operations.
Deployment Rigidity
Vantara’s appliance-first model restricts flexibility, slowing hybrid adoption and blocking modernization efforts.
What Makes Simplyblock™ Unique?
Simplyblock is a software-defined storage (SDS) platform built for modern, high-speed workloads. Powered by NVMe-over-TCP, it delivers direct storage access over Ethernet without legacy bottlenecks. Its modular design combines local NVMe drives and object storage, optimizing performance and cost. Features like thin provisioning, automatic balancing, and built-in resiliency ensure fast, efficient operations—free from vendor lock-ins.
Deployment Flexibility
Hitachi Vantara employs traditional setups like dedicated storage appliance-based systems, but often lacks the flexibility modern environments demand. As an alternative to appliance-bound models, simplyblock enables disaggregated, hybrid, and container-native deployments across any infrastructure.
Simplyblock extends deployment options significantly, supporting disaggregated, hyperconverged, and hybrid models that run seamlessly on Kubernetes, bare-metal servers, or Proxmox-based environments.
Unlike Vantara’s infrastructure lock-ins, simplyblock gives teams the freedom to deploy and scale storage wherever it’s needed—without constraints.
Modern Architecture
Hitachi Vantara’s controller-based design creates performance ceilings and requires hardware replacements as demands grow.
By contrast, simplyblock uses a true scale-out model where every added node increases performance and capacity—instantly, with no downtime.
Its use of NVMe-over-TCP and erasure coding avoids RAID complexity and costly networking, delivering faster, more efficient access at a fraction of the operational overhead.
Key Benefits of Choosing Simplyblock™
Lower Ownership Costs
Simplyblock reduces storage costs by running on standard x64 and ARM64 hardware and optimizing space with erasure coding and thin provisioning, enabling real-time scaling without waste.
High-Performance Storage
Built on NVMe-over-TCP, simplyblock delivers ultra-low latency and high throughput block storage, boosting workloads like AI, ML, and transactional systems without extra overhead.
Flexible Deployment Options
Simplyblock runs across bare-metal servers, private clouds, Kubernetes clusters, or hybrid setups, supporting disaggregated and hyper-converged storage models without hardware limitations.
Built-In Data Protection
Simplyblock ensures resilience with multi-tenant isolation, QoS controls, integrity checks, and automated recovery, minimizing operational risks while securing critical storage systems.
Why Simplyblock™ Is the Smarter Choice
| Simplyblock | Hitachi Vantara | Details | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Commercial Support |
 |
 | Simplyblock offers direct commercial support from its development team. Hitachi Vantara often requires premium contracts for enterprise support. |
| Simplicity |
|
| Simplyblock uses native Linux NVMe-over-TCP, requiring no extra initiators. Hitachi needs proprietary drivers and setup. |
| Deployment Flexibility |
|
| Simplyblock supports disaggregated, hyperconverged, and hybrid deployment models. Hitachi Vantara forces rigid appliance structures. |
| Cloud-Native Design |
|
| Simplyblock was built for Kubernetes and cloud-native environments. Hitachi focuses mainly on traditional SAN/NAS setups. |
| Commercial Support | |
|
Simplyblock
|
Hitachi Vantara |
| Simplyblock offers direct commercial support from its development team. Hitachi Vantara often requires premium contracts for enterprise support. | |
| Simplicity | |
|
Simplyblock
|
Hitachi Vantara |
| Simplyblock uses native Linux NVMe-over-TCP, requiring no extra initiators. Hitachi needs proprietary drivers and setup. | |
| Deployment Flexibility | |
|
Simplyblock
|
Hitachi Vantara |
| Simplyblock supports disaggregated, hyperconverged, and hybrid deployment models. Hitachi Vantara forces rigid appliance structures. | |
| Cloud-Native Design | |
|
Simplyblock
|
Hitachi Vantara |
| Simplyblock was built for Kubernetes and cloud-native environments. Hitachi focuses mainly on traditional SAN/NAS setups. | |
| Simplyblock | Hitachi Vantara | Details | |
|---|---|---|---|
| NVMe/TCP Acceleration |
|
| Simplyblock leverages NVMe-over-TCP natively for ultra-low latency. Hitachi generally uses Fibre Channel or older methods. |
| IOPS Density |
|
| Simplyblock achieves over 200,000 IOPS per CPU core without expensive controllers. Hitachi performance scales only through costly upgrades. |
| Horizontal Performance Scaling |
|
| Simplyblock expands easily by adding nodes without disruption. Hitachi requires controller-based expansion with limits. |
| Intelligent Caching |
|
| Simplyblock auto-optimizes caching; no manual tuning needed. Hitachi relies on traditional caching methods needing manual intervention. |
| NVMe/TCP Acceleration | |
|
Simplyblock
|
Hitachi Vantara |
| Simplyblock leverages NVMe-over-TCP natively for ultra-low latency. Hitachi generally uses Fibre Channel or older methods. | |
| IOPS Density | |
|
Simplyblock
|
Hitachi Vantara |
| Simplyblock achieves over 200,000 IOPS per CPU core without expensive controllers. Hitachi performance scales only through costly upgrades. | |
| Horizontal Performance Scaling | |
|
Simplyblock
|
Hitachi Vantara |
| Simplyblock expands easily by adding nodes without disruption. Hitachi requires controller-based expansion with limits. | |
| Intelligent Caching | |
|
Simplyblock
|
Hitachi Vantara |
| Simplyblock auto-optimizes caching; no manual tuning needed. Hitachi relies on traditional caching methods needing manual intervention. | |
| Simplyblock | Hitachi Vantara | Details | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hardware Cost |
|
| Simplyblock runs on commodity x64 and ARM64 systems. Hitachi Vantara locks customers into expensive certified hardware. |
| Licensing Model |
|
| Simplyblock includes enterprise features by default. Hitachi often requires separate licenses for core functionality. |
| Storage Efficiency |
|
| Simplyblock uses thin provisioning and smart tiering to maximize utilization. Hitachi's architectures often leave capacity underutilized. |
| Upgrade Costs |
|
| Simplyblock avoids forklift upgrades. Hitachi systems typically require hardware replacement for scaling. |
| Hardware Cost | |
|
Simplyblock
|
Hitachi Vantara |
| Simplyblock runs on commodity x64 and ARM64 systems. Hitachi Vantara locks customers into expensive certified hardware. | |
| Licensing Model | |
|
Simplyblock
|
Hitachi Vantara |
| Simplyblock includes enterprise features by default. Hitachi often requires separate licenses for core functionality. | |
| Storage Efficiency | |
|
Simplyblock
|
Hitachi Vantara |
| Simplyblock uses thin provisioning and smart tiering to maximize utilization. Hitachi's architectures often leave capacity underutilized. | |
| Upgrade Costs | |
|
Simplyblock
|
Hitachi Vantara |
| Simplyblock avoids forklift upgrades. Hitachi systems typically require hardware replacement for scaling. | |
| Simplyblock | Hitachi Vantara | Details | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Data Protection |
|
| Simplyblock uses erasure coding for efficient, resilient protection. Hitachi mainly uses traditional RAID models. |
| Self-Healing |
|
| Simplyblock automatically rebuilds and heals nodes without manual action. Hitachi often needs administrator-driven rebuilds. |
| Recovery Speed |
|
| Simplyblock enables fast recovery with instant snapshots and near-zero RPO. Hitachi recovery times vary and often depend on model. |
| Data Integrity Monitoring |
|
| Simplyblock continuously monitors and corrects data consistency issues. Hitachi requires manual or scheduled integrity checks. |
| Data Protection | |
|
Simplyblock
|
Hitachi Vantara |
| Simplyblock uses erasure coding for efficient, resilient protection. Hitachi mainly uses traditional RAID models. | |
| Self-Healing | |
|
Simplyblock
|
Hitachi Vantara |
| Simplyblock automatically rebuilds and heals nodes without manual action. Hitachi often needs administrator-driven rebuilds. | |
| Recovery Speed | |
|
Simplyblock
|
Hitachi Vantara |
| Simplyblock enables fast recovery with instant snapshots and near-zero RPO. Hitachi recovery times vary and often depend on model. | |
| Data Integrity Monitoring | |
|
Simplyblock
|
Hitachi Vantara |
| Simplyblock continuously monitors and corrects data consistency issues. Hitachi requires manual or scheduled integrity checks. | |
| Simplyblock | Hitachi Vantara | Details | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Commercial Support |
|
| Simplyblock offers direct commercial support from its development team. Hitachi Vantara often requires premium contracts for enterprise support. |
| Simplicity |
|
| Simplyblock uses native Linux NVMe-over-TCP, requiring no extra initiators. Hitachi needs proprietary drivers and setup. |
| Deployment Flexibility |
|
| Simplyblock supports disaggregated, hyperconverged, and hybrid deployment models. Hitachi Vantara forces rigid appliance structures. |
| Cloud-Native Design |
|
| Simplyblock was built for Kubernetes and cloud-native environments. Hitachi focuses mainly on traditional SAN/NAS setups. |
| Simplyblock | Hitachi Vantara | Details | |
|---|---|---|---|
| NVMe/TCP Acceleration |
|
| Simplyblock leverages NVMe-over-TCP natively for ultra-low latency. Hitachi generally uses Fibre Channel or older methods. |
| IOPS Density |
|
| Simplyblock achieves over 200,000 IOPS per CPU core without expensive controllers. Hitachi performance scales only through costly upgrades. |
| Horizontal Performance Scaling |
|
| Simplyblock expands easily by adding nodes without disruption. Hitachi requires controller-based expansion with limits. |
| Intelligent Caching |
|
| Simplyblock auto-optimizes caching; no manual tuning needed. Hitachi relies on traditional caching methods needing manual intervention. |
| Simplyblock | Hitachi Vantara | Details | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hardware Cost |
|
| Simplyblock runs on commodity x64 and ARM64 systems. Hitachi Vantara locks customers into expensive certified hardware. |
| Licensing Model |
|
| Simplyblock includes enterprise features by default. Hitachi often requires separate licenses for core functionality. |
| Storage Efficiency |
|
| Simplyblock uses thin provisioning and smart tiering to maximize utilization. Hitachi's architectures often leave capacity underutilized. |
| Upgrade Costs |
|
| Simplyblock avoids forklift upgrades. Hitachi systems typically require hardware replacement for scaling. |
| Simplyblock | Hitachi Vantara | Details | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Data Protection |
|
| Simplyblock uses erasure coding for efficient, resilient protection. Hitachi mainly uses traditional RAID models. |
| Self-Healing |
|
| Simplyblock automatically rebuilds and heals nodes without manual action. Hitachi often needs administrator-driven rebuilds. |
| Recovery Speed |
|
| Simplyblock enables fast recovery with instant snapshots and near-zero RPO. Hitachi recovery times vary and often depend on model. |
| Data Integrity Monitoring |
|
| Simplyblock continuously monitors and corrects data consistency issues. Hitachi requires manual or scheduled integrity checks. |