Storage vendors are not doing as much as they could to help small businesses move over to networked storage, according to an industry analyst.

"Storage vendors want you to implement a storage network, and enabling you to move from a non-networked environment should be a no-brainer," said Tony Asaro, senior analyst at the Enterprise Strategy Group.

"However, very few actually provide the tools to make this happen simply."

Asaro's comments came at the launch of Hitachi Data Systems' entry-level Simple Modular Storage Model 100 aimed at smaller businesses.

Hitachi said that the device's modular design uses a plug-and-play disk slot so that data is always available.

In the event of a disk failure, Hitachi promises to ship a free drive following an automatic message from the management console.

The new drive is plugged into the disk slot, and the customer does not need to remove or return any existing drives and there is no disruption to the storage system.

The system is also designed to fulfil the requirements of businesses with burgeoning data growth and protection requirements, scaling from under 1TB to nearly 9TB of capacity.

Data is automatically saved to the local disk should the network fail at any point, and is synchronised with the Simple Modular Storage system when the network is operational again.

"Hitachi has fused the enterprise-class capabilities of its market leading storage systems with the ease-of-use of its consumer electronics products in the all-new Hitachi Simple Modular Storage system," said Mike Walkey, senior vice president of global volume channels at Hitachi Data Systems.