Storage Administrator - Hitachi Data Systems

Role : Storage Administrator (SAN, Hitachi & Cisco)

Location : Mumbai

Experience : 5+ Years

We are seeking an experienced Storage Administrator specializing in SAN infrastructure, Hitachi storage systems, and Cisco/Brocade SAN switches. The role requires strong expertise in enterprise-grade storage solutions, replication technologies, automation, and performance optimization to ensure high availability, scalability, and business continuity.

Key Responsibilities :

Storage Administration & Operations :

- Manage day-to-day administration of enterprise SAN environments, including Hitachi VSP 5000 Series storage arrays and Cisco/Brocade SAN Directors/Switches.

- Allocate, configure, and decommission storage LUNs to heterogeneous server environments (Linux, Windows, VMware).

- Perform firmware upgrades, microcode updates, and patching for Hitachi storage systems and SAN switches.

- Maintain detailed infrastructure documentation, topology diagrams, and operational runbooks.

Capacity & Performance Management :

- Monitor and analyze SAN and storage system KPIs (IOPS, throughput, latency, port utilization).

- Perform capacity forecasting, trend analysis, and storage tiering recommendations for optimal performance.

- Manage provisioning/de-provisioning of storage pools, volumes, and host groups in Hitachi OpsCenter.

- Conduct proactive health checks and performance tuning on Cisco DCNM/NDFC managed SAN fabrics.

Troubleshooting & Incident Resolution :

- Act as L2/L3 escalation point for SAN/storage-related incidents.

- Perform root cause analysis (RCA) for outages and service degradation issues.

- Work with cross-functional teams (compute, virtualization, networking) to resolve complex issues.

- Ensure compliance with ITIL change management processes for storage-related activities.

Disaster Recovery & Replication :

- Design, configure, and maintain disaster recovery (DR) and business continuity solutions using Hitachi replication technologies :

1. ShadowImage & Thin Image (local replication)

2. TrueCopy & Universal Replicator (UR) (remote replication)

- Conduct periodic DR drills, validate data integrity, and update DR documentation.

- Manage replication topologies across multi-site data centers ensuring RPO/RTO compliance.

Automation & Scripting :

- Develop and maintain scripts in Bash, PowerShell, and Python to automate provisioning, monitoring, and reporting tasks.

- Create automation workflows for capacity reporting, LUN provisioning, snapshot management, and replication status checks.

- Integrate storage alerts and monitoring with enterprise monitoring tools (Nagios, Zabbix, Splunk, or equivalent).

Mentorship & Collaboration :

- Provide technical leadership and mentorship to junior administrators.

- Collaborate with Hitachi and Cisco engineers for advanced troubleshooting, upgrades, and solution deployments.

- Work closely with infrastructure architects to design scalable, secure, and resilient storage environments.

Requirements :

- Experience : Minimum 5+ years in enterprise SAN/storage administration.

- Storage Expertise : Hands-on with Hitachi VSP 5000 Series (Block Storage) including provisioning, replication, and performance tuning.

- SAN Expertise : Strong knowledge of Cisco MDS / Brocade SAN Directors (zoning, VSANs, ISLs, trunking, NPIV, FSPF).

- Management Tools : Proficiency in Hitachi OpsCenter (Administrator, Analyzer, Protector) and Cisco DCNM/NDFC.

- Replication Skills : Deep knowledge of ShadowImage, Thin Image, TrueCopy, Universal Replicator.

- OS Administration : Strong in Linux (RHEL, CentOS, Ubuntu) and Windows, including filesystem integration (ext4, NTFS, NFS, CIFS).

- Scripting & Automation : Advanced in Bash, PowerShell, and familiarity with Python for automation.

- Protocols & Standards : Deep understanding of Fibre Channel (FC), iSCSI, FCoE, multipathing (MPIO/DM-MPIO).

- Soft Skills : Strong troubleshooting, RCA documentation, communication, and stakeholder collaboration.

Preferred Skills :

- Exposure to VMware vSphere and its integration with SAN storage (VMFS, VVols).

- Experience in backup & recovery solutions (Commvault, Veritas, Veeam).

- Familiarity with cloud storage integration (AWS Storage Gateway, Azure Blob, or GCP Filestore).

- Knowledge of security best practices in SAN & storage environments (zoning best practices, encryption, role-based access control).