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Dell in July said it planned to acquire Force10, a developer of high-performance data center networking gear. That acquisition, once it closes, would give Dell its own networking intellectual property which could be closely integrated with its strong server technology and its storage product lines, including its recent Compellent acquisition.
Dell's planned Force10 acquisition complements and extends Dell's storage and server portfolio, especially as customers look at how to embrace cloud computing, said Dario Zamarian, vice president and general manager for Dell's networking business, when the acquisition was unveiled.
There is no doubt that Force10 and its networking technology will be a key part of a solution play, Zamarian said. While some customers will continue looking for an open approach to data center architectures, others will find a converged solution with a single management framework more suited to their needs. "So there will be integration," he said.
Intel in July unveiled an agreement to acquire Fulcrum Microsystems, a fabless networking chip company which specializes in designing high-bandwidth Ethernet switch chips for data centers. Intel said that the Fulcrum technology will be part of a converged server, storage, and networking strategy. Intel is unique in the converged infrastructure market in that it partners, not competes, with the other vendors.
Huawei Symantec, a joint venture of China-based telecom giant Huawei and U.S. based storage and security software vendor Symantec, in July introduced a full line of enterprise networking equipment to go with its server and storage offerings, and left open the possibility of integrating those technologies.
Smaller startup vendors are also seeing the value of converged infrastructures. San Jose, Calif.-based Xsigo Systems, for instance, offers software which connects virtual machines to any networking and storage technology in a data center via its proprietary I/O Director hardware and software technology.
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