Its competitors include Imation Corp., Storability Inc., and Calisma Inc. But for now, we think GlassHouse cuts the mustard.
Startups acquiring startups. We love this. Why? Because it demonstrates two important traits in a young company: One, that it has enough cash; and two, that it can spot market trends and isn't afraid to buy expertise rather than taking years to grow it in-house.
And why is all this relevant to our new No. 10 entrant, you ask? Well, LeftHand Networks recently snapped up North Fork Networks (see LeftHand Grabs North Fork) to move into a new area.
LeftHand was first to market a year ago with a NAS box that operates over standard Ethernet networks and supports both block and file transfers. But the capacity of its so-called Network Storage Module (NSM) was a little on the small side. Prices for a 160-Gbyte NSM system, including hardware, software, and a three-year service and remote support warranty, begin at $15,000, which is pretty low for this kind of gear. Compare it with offerings from BlueArc Corp., Network Appliance Inc. (Nasdaq: NTAP), and EMC Corp. (NYSE: EMC), which start at around $50,000.
To move upmarket and improve its appeal to larger enterprises, LeftHand acquired North Fork, which provides it with clustering software that enables it to pool its boxes so they appear as one giant, mainframe-like system. Is that cool, or what? This means companies that wish to start small can do so, but with the assurance that they can augment the system as needed.
Bob Friday, Chief AI Officer for Juniper Networks, explains how the advanced technology is transforming operations.
Contact center leaders from 8x8, Awaken Intelligence, and 360insight discuss the importance of agent experience.
AI may force enterprises to rewire parts of their data centers so they are fully optimized to run such workloads. The question is do you use Ethernet or InfiniBand?
