Micron Acquires UK-Based Start-Up Virtensys
To add PCIe virtualization appliances to PCIe SSDs
This is a Press Release edited by StorageNewsletter.com on January 23, 2012 at 2:54 pmMicron Technology, Inc. and Virtensys Ltd. have signed an agreement for Micron to acquire the assets of privately-held Virtensys, a provider of PCIe-sharing solutions based in Manchester, England and Beaverton, OR.
The transaction would strengthen Micron’s enterprise storage portfolio by combining Virtensys’ PCIe virtualization technology with Micron’s SSDs, enabling data centers to share local storage across multiple servers.
"Virtensys’ PCIe-sharing technology has helped change the way data center operators manage and deploy their virtualized I/O resources, and Micron’s enterprise PCIe drive delivers market-leading speed, reliability and power efficiency," said Edward Doller, Micron Vice President and Chief Memory Systems Architect. "This agreement would enable a combination of enterprise technology solutions that have the opportunity to virtualize SSD storage on the path to a more flexible and dynamic data center."
"Virtensys has served as an OEM-focused company working to deliver innovative solutions with some of the world’s leading server, storage and I/O adapter manufacturers," said John Nicholson, Virtensys Chairman and CEO. "Our technology complements Micron’s enterprise products as we strive to empower the virtual data center, and we are delighted to join the Micron family."
The transaction is subject to closing conditions and is currently anticipated to close by the end of the month.
Specific terms of the proposed agreement are confidential.
Comments
Virtensys was founded in 2005 by former executives of Xyratex and got a total of $40 million in financial funding through three rounds.
The start-up releases aggregation switches that virtualize server I/O in hardware in 2009.
Micron will be able to have PCIe-connect flash memory arrays with its own SSDs, allowing to share storage across several servers.
The two companies have already tight partnership. Last August, Virtensys announced SSD solutions VIO-4010 and the VIO-4012 with Micron's RealSSD P300 and P320h enterprise SSDs. The company was selling its products to OEMs including Micron.
The consolidation in SSDs continues
Mo. | Year |
Buyer | Acquired firm |
Price* |
Activity of acquired firm |
3 | 2008 | SMART Modular Technologies |
Adtron | 35 | SSDs |
4 | 2009 | WD | SiliconSystems | 65 | SSDs for embedded systems |
1 | 2011 | Cache-A | JDV Solutions (IP and assets) |
NA | SSD controllers and software |
3 | 2011 | OCZ |
Indilinx | 32 | SSD controllers and software |
5 | 2011 | SanDisk | Pliant Technology |
327 | Enterprise SSDs |
8 | 2011 | Fusion-io |
IO Turbine | 95 | Software using flash to solve I/O bottleneck on VMWare |
10 | 2011 | LSI | SandForce | 370 | SSD controllers |
10 | 2011 | OCZ | PLX (assets) | NA | UK R&D team for SoC aimed at SSDs |
1 | 2012 | OCZ | SANRAD | 15 | Flash caching and virtualization software and hardware |
1 | 2012 | Micron | VirtenSys | NA | PCIe I/O virtualization silicon for SSDs |