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Extreme Acquires Soapstone
2:52 PM EDT Tue. Aug. 11, 2009
The terms of the deal weren't disclosed.
The acquisition of Billerica, Mass.-based Soapstone gives Extreme Ethernet service aware software and a control plane to help simplify carrier Ethernet deployments, the two companies said.
The transaction transfers ownership of the Soapstone software control plane and service aware provisioning to Santa Clara, Calif.-based Extreme, the companies said.
"The addition of the software assets from Soapstone Networks into the Extreme Networks intellectual property portfolio continues our commitment to carrier Ethernet," Glenn Weinberg, vice president and general manager of Extreme's software business unit, said in a statement. "The unique provisioning and service aware capabilities of the Soapstone Networks software will enable Extreme Networks to deliver a more complete, extensible solution to carrier Ethernet service providers."
Soapstone, which was created by former core router vendor Avici Systems, had run into financial trouble and shut down after reporting a $10 million net loss in the second quarter. The company had struggled to find buyers for its Provider Network Controller (PNC), a control plane software. On July 31, Soapstone filed a certificate of dissolution with the Delaware Secretary of State and was in the midst of liquidating operations.
Before Soapstone shuttered, however, Extreme showed its gear could integrate with the PNC. Extreme said it will now integrate Soapstone's software into Extreme's EPICenter Networking Management System to offer a service level view, provisioning and management of carrier Ethernet networks and protocols such as Provider Bridging (PB), Provider Backbone Bridging (PBB), Provider Backbone Bridging with Traffic Engineering (PBB-TE), Ethernet Access Protection Switching (EAPS) and Virtual Private Line (VPLS).
