IBM To Buy Grid Storage Startup?
There a rumor running around that IBM may be buying Israeli grid startup, XIV for $300 - $350 million.
If so this would represent a whopping coo for XIV who's seen just $3 million in investment to date, reports Globes
As Globes notes, traditionally the most critical information must be stored on amazingly expensive Tier 1 storage. The XIV system allows the same "instantaneous availability and reliability of information using grid technology on significantly less expensive hardware."
What they didn't tell you was just how much less expensive. When I first met with XIV in 2006, Ofir Zohar, the CEO, was claiming to cut the prices of Tier 1 storage by 57% without sacrificing on advanced replication and recovery features. The company holds six patents on the technology.
No wonder IBM would be looking at XIV.
Still, there are questions to be addressed. The biggest is in line upgrades. Last I looked, XIV's system couldn't upgrade its system software without a system reboot, a big no-no in the Tier 1 world.