Cisco To Buy File Virtualization Developer NeoPath

Cisco Systems on Tuesday said it plans to acquire file storage management vendor NeoPath Networks, a company in which Cisco already had made an investment.

Financial terms of the deal weren't disclosed. The acquisition is expected to close during Cisco's fiscal third quarter ending April 28.

Santa Clara, Calif.-based NeoPath, a privately held developer of file virtualization software, was founded in 2002 and has 55 employees. The company received an investment from Cisco in May. At the time, Cisco contributed an undisclosed sum to NeoPath's third round of financing, which totaled $11 million. Previous investors in NeoPath also participated in the funding round.

After the acquisition closes, Cisco plans to incorporate the NeoPath team and products into its Datacenter Switching and Security Technology Group, which is headed by Senior Vice President Jayshree Ullal.

"Enterprise customers are asking Cisco how they can make better use of their existing IT infrastructure, and NeoPath is part of the answer," Ullal said in a statement.

Cisco is the latest storage player to snap up file virtualization technology. In August, EMC acquired Rainfinity in a deal valued at less than $100 million. And last March, Brocade Communications Systems spent $60 million for NuView.