QLogic buys Troika for virtualization chip

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  QLogic Corp. has acquired
virtualization
chip maker Troika Networks Inc. for $36.5 million in cash, a move it maintains will speed up
OEM
development of entry-level and midrange virtualization products.
  The
Fibre Channel

host bus adapter
and switch giant is hoping that Troika's split-path architecture chip
in its Accelera intelligent switch appliance will be used by storage
system manufacturers to build lower cost virtualization products.
  "OEMs are seeing a need for virtualization solutions tailored to …
small and midsized enterprises," said H.K Desai, president and CEO of
QLogic, in a statement to the press. He added that QLogic will provide
the virtualization building blocks but will leave OEMs to add on "the
software of their choice."
 
       
       
               

       
  According to Steve Duplessie, founder and analyst of
the Enterprise Strategy Group, Troika's chip can move data really fast
while also applying intelligence to that data, in the form of
virtualization. "Other guys are talking about having to buy a big,
expensive, mega honking switch in order to run virtualization," he
said.
  "QLogic is an odd player," said Arun Taneja, founder and analyst of the
Taneja Group. "The difference is their focus on the low end. A
purpose-built appliance gives QLogic an opportunity to keep the cost of
their switches low. .. this is a less expensive approach than building
… directors with intelligence."
  QLogic's vice president of marketing, Frank Berry, agreed that the
virtualization products being sold today are based on "big,
sophisticated, chassis-based solutions" from Cisco Systems Inc. and
Brocade Communications Systems Inc. He's most likely referring to EMC
Corp.'s Invista product, formerly called Storage Router, which was
launched in May.
  By its own admission, EMC has said that Invista is limited to large
shops and its price tag of $225,000 is proof of that. It's possible
QLogic is hoping to fill the hole in EMC's portfolio for a lower cost
virtualization offering. In addition, Invista is limited to data
migration across arrays while Troika's box can also perform remote
replication, snapshots and virtual volume management.
"Users don't want to bet the farm up front on network-based storage
intelligence -- and Troika gives them a way to stick their toes in the
water without drowning," Duplessie said. "The cost/risk comparison
between a Cisco-plus software solution and a Troika/StoreAge solution
is night and day." Troika partnered with StoreAge Networking
Technologies Inc. for storage services.
"Troika to QLogic has the opportunity to be what Vixel [Corp.]
became at Emulex [Corp.] -- a big business in a soon to be emerging
market," Duplessie concluded.
   Besides EMC, Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP) is another possible candidate for
Troika's technology. HP is on a roll signing up OEM partners these days
but has had no luck building a virtualization product. The company
acquired virtualization appliance maker StorageApps for $350 million in
2001, but the resulting product was killed after HP lost a patent
infringement case against EMC.
  Founded in 1998, Westlake Village, Calif.,-based Troika raised a total
of $81.3 million in funding with the most recent round of $14.4 million
secured in July. Anthem Venture Partners is the lead investor in Troika
and advised the company on the transaction.



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