Modernize Your Infrastructure: Integrating SUSE Virtualization with Hitachi VSP Storage

It has been a while since I last discussed our SUSE Technical Reference Documentation (TRD) series, but it is certainly worth another look! Our TRD library serves as a curated hub of practical, real-world blueprints. These are designed to help platform engineers and systems administrators navigate complex integrations with confidence. Furthermore, these documents are more than just manuals: They are community-contributed examples of how to achieve enterprise-grade results using SUSE technologies alongside industry-leading partners.

Today, I would like to highlight a brand-new, critical guide for those evolving toward modernized hybrid infrastructures: SUSE Virtualization with Hitachi Vantara Virtual Storage Platform (VSP) One.

The Challenge: Unified Performance and Scalability

As organizations transition to cloud-native models, the ability to manage virtual machines and containers on a single, secure platform is no longer a luxury—it’s a necessity. However, providing these workloads with reliable, high-performance storage often remains a hurdle.

The Solution: SUSE and Hitachi Vantara

This new technical guide helps you solve the challenge. It provides the definitive roadmap for integrating SUSE Virtualization—built on Harvester and powered by Kubernetes—with the mission-critical reliability of Hitachi VSP One.

Key Highlights of the Integration:

• Enterprise-Grade Resilience: By configuring multipath I/O, you ensure that VM disks remain accessible even during network or controller failures.
• Dynamic Provisioning: Learn how to deploy the Hitachi Storage Plug-in for Containers (HSPC) CSI driver to automate storage lifecycle management for stateful applications.
• Simplified Snapshots: The guide walks you through enabling snapshot capabilities directly on Hitachi hardware, manageable via both the CLI and the intuitive SUSE Virtualization UI.
• Secure-by-Default: Built on SUSE Linux Micro and RKE2, the solution offers an immutable foundation with a reduced attack surface, ideal for highly regulated environments.

What’s Inside?

This guide is designed for hands-on implementation, covering:

1. Preparation: Configuring multipathd on worker nodes for high availability.
2. Implementation: Step-by-step deployment of the HSPC CSI Operator and instance.
3. Resource Creation: Defining Kubernetes Secrets, StorageClasses, and PVCs.
4. Validation: Detailed steps to verify your storage with a live VM in the SUSE Virtualization environment.

Ready to bridge the gap between traditional virtualization and cloud-native efficiency?

Read the full technical guide here