Hitachi GST Launches Cloud Storage and Backup Service; First 3GB Free

Imagine that all of your irreplaceable photos, home movies, address books, music collections and documents suddenly disappeared. Maybe it was a spilled drink, a theft or a natural disaster, but whatever the cause, the digital content stored on your local computer is gone forever. Unfortunately, accidents like this happen. According to a recent poll¹ sponsored by Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (Hitachi GST) and conducted online by Harris Interactive, almost half of U.S adults who have digital data (45%) have lost photos, music, videos or documents, stored on a laptop or computer due to a virus, hardware or software malfunction or for another reason.

To create awareness and offer new ways to protect your content, Hitachi GST today announced HitachiBackup.com, a simple and easy-to-use cloud storage service providing anywhere, anytime access to your digital content. And, best of all, the first 3 gigabytes (3GB) of online storage are free.

When using Hitachi’s cloud storage service, your most important or cherished content is stored on secure online servers for accessing and sharing files from any web browser, tablet or smartphone – even from an Apple® iPhone® and iPad® app. All content is stored in its natural format (no proprietary formatting), so files are easy to view, download and share from any web browser, anywhere. You can even share your online content with others by sending a web link. Backups can be performed continuously or as scheduled at a specific time in the day that’s convenient for you.

According to the poll, Hitachi GST has discovered that the majority of U.S adults have never used a cloud backup service (71%). Among those U.S adults who use another backup method² other than cloud, the top reasons why included: they wanted content physically nearby (31%), they’re concerned about data security and privacy online (26%), they think it’s too costly (22%) and they’re not sure how to do it (18%). With today’s affordable, simple and secure solutions, many of the consumer behaviors and fears uncovered in this new national survey can be easily addressed. Hitachi shares the top five reasons to use HitachiBackup.com:

Top 5 Reasons to Use HitachiBackup.com

1. Secure: Hitachi GST utilizes the most advanced security technology to guarantee that your files are saved in the most secure way possible. All communication goes through an encrypted SSL channel, the same ones used by banking institutions.

2. Simple: HitachiBackup.com is as simple as turning on a light switch. Once our online backup software is installed on your computer or laptop, simply slide the online backup bar to “On” and all of your pictures, movies, music files and important documents are getting backed up to our secure remote servers. Plus, HitachiBackup.com is both Mac and PC friendly.

3. Affordable: Sign up today and get 3GB for free - no strings attached. For more storage, there is an option to upgrade to a quarter of a terabyte (250GB) for only $49 per year, which includes multiple computer protection. Upgrade to a paid account and receive the Apple iPhone or iPad mobile digital device apps for free.

4. Available: Store your content in the cloud for anytime, anywhere access through any web browser. Even share files with friends and family using email links. You can also easily restore backed-up data if needed from anywhere, to anywhere without having access to your local drive.

5. Flexible: Use HitachiBackup.com to backup your computer, laptop or any brand of external hard drive. Once the Hitachi Backup software is installed, by default, it will copy everything in your user account, starting from docs and photos and then moves on to music and videos in the user folder, up to the available space. You can edit the default folders or add additional folders to better suit your backup needs.

Outside of offering HitachiBackup.com as a standalone cloud storage service, Hitachi has been shipping this online backup service with several of its external hard drive families. The most recent is its new line of Touro™ Pro external storage and backup solutions. Hitachi external drives take data protection to the next level where users receive both local and online cloud backup in one integrated solution, within one interface – no more downloading and installing two separate programs. With Touro Pro, customers can have peace of mind in knowing that their data is both nearby and safely tucked away in the cloud. Hitachi Touro Pro solutions come in capacities ranging from 500GB ($109.99 MSRP) to 3TB ($229.99 MSRP).

“The launch of HitachiBackup.com gives us the opportunity to reach out and educate consumers and small business owners on the importance of protecting their digital content,” said Mike Williams, vice president and general manager, Hitachi GST Branded Business. “The real question is not if backup is important, but whether the information you’re storing is important. For example, in the survey 76 percent of U.S adults listed digital photos and home videos as their most important files. HitachiBackup.com gives users a simple and easy way not only to protect these files, but to access and share them from anywhere.”

Sign up for your free 3GB of online storage today at www.HitachiBackup.com.

To stay connected with Hitachi GST, please visit:

• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/HitachiStorage
• Twitter: http://twitter.com/HitachiStorage
• YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/hitachistorage

About Hitachi Global Storage Technologies

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (Hitachi GST) develops advanced hard disk drives, enterprise-class solid state drives, innovative external storage solutions and services used to store, preserve and manage the world’s most valued data. Founded by the pioneers of hard drives, Hitachi GST provides high-value storage for a broad range of market segments, including Enterprise, Desktop, Mobile Computing, Consumer Electronics and Personal Storage. Hitachi GST was established in 2003 and maintains its U.S. headquarters in San Jose, California. For more information, please visit the company’s website at http://www.hitachigst.com.

About Hitachi, Ltd.

Hitachi, Ltd., (NYSE: HIT / TSE: 6501), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a leading global electronics company with approximately 360,000 employees worldwide. Fiscal 2010 (ended March 31, 2011) consolidated revenues totaled 9,315 billion yen ($112.2 billion). Hitachi will focus more than ever on the Social Innovation Business, which includes information and telecommunication systems, power systems, environmental, industrial and transportation systems, and social and urban 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.

One GB is equal to one billion bytes, and one TB equals 1,000 GB (one trillion bytes). Actual capacity will vary depending on operating environment and formatting.

Hitachi Touro external drives and Hitachi Backup serve as an element of an overall backup strategy. It is highly recommended that users keep two or more copies of their most important files stored or backed up on separate storage devices.

Touro Pro and Hitachi Backup are trademarks of Hitachi GST. All other trademarks are properties of their respective owners. Hitachi trademarks are authorized for use in countries and jurisdictions in which Hitachi has the right to market the brands. Hitachi is not liable for third parties’ unauthorized use of Hitachi trademarks.

Survey Methodology

¹ This study was conducted online by Harris Interactive on behalf of Hitachi GST among 2,146 U.S. adults aged 18 and older from May 10-12, 2011 via its QuickQuery omnibus product. Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. For additional information including weighting variables please contact erin.hartin@hitachigst.com.

² Other backup devices in the survey included an external hard drive, a network attached storage device (i.e. an external drive that is connected by Ethernet to a router), flash drive/USB key or CD/DVD.