As for the 5.2 version, Ruiz says Sistina has had a number of customers beta testing the product over the past few months, and that it already has 12 prepaid customers. "Obviously we're excited," he says. "This is the first time that we've presold so much. There was a lot of pent-up demand."
Despite its progress, however, Kusnetzky cautions that Sistina is bound to run into more competition going forward. "I expect we will see a lot of competition emerging that isn't visible today," he says. "Some of these people have a lot of clever offerings."
In addition, Sistina's decision to offer Linux-based software could cause a slower uptake of its products, he says: "One of the issues is that Linux has not yet reached mainstream status in all marketplaces... Like other vendors offering software on Linux, they face the fact that an education process is needed."
Ruiz, for his part, insists that Sistina's software is far superior to other offerings on the market, claiming that the GFS 5.2 is the only clustered file server that allows for the clustering of up to 256 nodes. (By contrast, PolyServe says its latest software can cluster up to 16 nodes.) Sistina says it already has one customer operating 150 nodes, but wouldn't tell us who that is.
Sistina, which employs 40 people and has received $20 million in funding to date, expects its new software will bring it closer to its goal of reaching the break-even point in the first half of next year (see Sistina Seeds Growth). If the company does need any more funding on its road to profitability, says Ruiz, it will come from strategic partners, not venture capitalists. "We're funded to cover our roadmap," he says.
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