Dot Hill Systems

Dot Hill Systems Corp. was a storage technology company focused on computer storage-area-network arrays, disk systems, storage hardware, and associated software. Its products were aimed at both smaller organizations and large data-center environments and supported a range of enterprise storage architectures, including Fibre Channel, Internet Small Computer Systems Interface (iSCSI), and Serial Attached SCSI (SAS). The company emerged from the combination of Box Hill Systems Corp. and Artecon, Inc. Box Hill, a New York-based company that was already listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol BHSC, acquired Artecon, a Carlsbad, California storage-system manufacturer. Following the combination, the corporate entity adopted the Dot Hill Systems name and changed its public-market symbol to HILL. The transaction brought together Box Hill's backup, tape-library, and storage hardware activities with Artecon's drive-array business and its experience with telecommunications-oriented, NEBS-certified systems. Before the combination, Box Hill sold hardware products whose names incorporated the word Box, backup software, and renamed original-equipment-manufacturer tape libraries sourced from companies such as ATL Odetics and StorageTek. Artecon concentrated on drive arrays and promoted certification for Network Equipment-Building System environments. The combined company subsequently reduced its emphasis on backup and tape products and concentrated more heavily on disk-based storage arrays. The integration also shifted managerial and operational weight toward the former Artecon organization, while the headquarters moved to Carlsbad. Dot Hill's product technology covered hard-disk and solid-state storage, RAID protection, host connectivity, and storage administration. Supported RAID configurations included RAID 1, RAID 10, RAID 5, RAID 50, RAID 6, and RAID 60. Its systems could be managed or integrated with environments based on Microsoft Windows, Linux distributions including Red Hat Enterprise Linux and SUSE Linux Enterprise, Apple Mac OS X Snow Leopard, Oracle Solaris, XenServer, and VMware ESX. Drive technologies included SAS and SATA as well as solid-state drives. In 2004, Dot Hill acquired Chaparral Network Storage, a Longmont, Colorado company founded in 2000 that also manufactured storage systems. This transaction expanded Dot Hill's engineering and product base in networked storage. Beginning in 2010, the company moved nearly all of its Carlsbad operations to Longmont, consolidating its activities in Colorado. Dot Hill remained publicly traded on the NASDAQ under HILL during this period. Seagate Technology completed its acquisition of Dot Hill in October 2015. Dot Hill therefore no longer operates as an independent public company, although its technology and products formed part of Seagate's enterprise-storage business. The company is best understood historically as an enterprise-storage manufacturer created through consolidation in the storage-array sector rather than as a consumer electronics brand.

Dot Hill Systems developed from the combination of Box Hill Systems Corp. and Artecon, Inc. Box Hill was based in New York and was already a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol BHSC. Its business included storage hardware, backup software, and tape libraries sold under renamed original-equipment-manufacturer arrangements involving suppliers such as ATL Odetics and StorageTek. Artecon, based in Carlsbad, California, produced drive-array systems and emphasized NEBS certification, a relevant qualification for telecommunications and network-equipment deployments. The combination produced Dot Hill Systems Corp. and a new public-market symbol, HILL. Integration required the two companies to merge their products, engineering capabilities, and management structures. Box Hill had experienced difficulties with a flagship Fibre Channel product around the late 1990s because the system could not deliver all of its originally intended features and had to depend on software RAID. Although it performed effectively for mirroring, it was less successful in other respects. After the combination, the company gradually moved away from backup and tape products and focused more strongly on disk arrays and networked storage. The integration also produced substantial organizational change. The former Artecon management team assumed a leading role, and the headquarters moved to Carlsbad. Dot Hill expanded its storage capabilities in 2004 by acquiring Chaparral Network Storage, a Longmont, Colorado company established in 2000. Chaparral also manufactured storage systems, giving Dot Hill a larger presence in the network-storage market and a continuing operational base in Colorado. Dot Hill's products supported Fibre Channel, Ethernet-based iSCSI, and SAS connectivity. Its portfolio included hard drives, solid-state drives, RAID-capable arrays, and storage-management applications. The arrays supported multiple RAID levels, including RAID 1, RAID 10, RAID 5, RAID 50, RAID 6, and RAID 60. Management software was designed to operate with a broad set of server and virtualization environments, including Windows, several Linux distributions, Mac OS X Snow Leopard, Oracle Solaris, XenServer, and VMware ESX. The company supported SAS and SATA drive technologies alongside solid-state storage. In 2010, Dot Hill began moving almost all Carlsbad operations to Longmont. It continued trading on the NASDAQ under HILL during this phase. The company ultimately became part of Seagate Technology when Seagate completed its acquisition in October 2015. Following that transaction, Dot Hill ceased to exist as an independent publicly traded storage company. Its historical significance lies in its role as a consolidator and supplier in the enterprise storage-array market, particularly in the transition from tape and backup-oriented products toward networked disk and solid-state storage.

• 2015

  Acquisition by Seagate Technology completed

  [1]Dot Hill Systemsen.wikipedia.org

  Seagate Technology finalized its acquisition of Dot Hill in October, ending the company's independent corporate existence.

• 2010

  Operations began moving to Longmont

  [1]Dot Hill Systemsen.wikipedia.org

  Dot Hill started transferring almost all Carlsbad operations to Longmont, Colorado.

• 2004

  Acquisition of Chaparral Network Storage

  [1]Dot Hill Systemsen.wikipedia.org

  Dot Hill acquired Chaparral Network Storage, a Longmont, Colorado storage-system manufacturer.

• Box Hill Systems acquired Artecon

  [1]Dot Hill Systemsen.wikipedia.org

  Box Hill Systems combined with Artecon, creating the corporate basis for Dot Hill Systems and bringing together backup, tape, drive-array, and NEBS-certified storage capabilities.

• The combined company adopted the Dot Hill name

  [1]Dot Hill Systemsen.wikipedia.org

  After the Box Hill–Artecon combination, the company changed its name to Dot Hill Systems Corp. and changed its public-market symbol from BHSC to HILL.

Enterprise and data-center storage provider focused on networked storage arrays, interoperable host connectivity, RAID data protection, and storage-management software. The company moved from a predecessor portfolio that included backup and tape products toward disk-based and solid-state storage systems.

• Enterprise storage hardware

  Storage-area-network arrays

  Dot Hill's core business was the manufacture of networked storage arrays for small and large data-storage environments. The systems provided shared storage through Fibre Channel, iSCSI, or SAS interfaces and could combine hard-disk and solid-state media. Their target environments included enterprise data centers, server infrastructures, and virtualized systems.

• Data-protection storage

  RAID storage systems

  Dot Hill arrays supported several RAID configurations, including RAID 1, RAID 10, RAID 5, RAID 50, RAID 6, and RAID 60. These configurations provided different combinations of mirroring, striping, parity, capacity, and fault tolerance for enterprise workloads.

• Storage software

  Storage-management applications

  The company's management software supported administration of its storage systems across a broad software ecosystem. Documented environments included Windows, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, SUSE Linux, Mac OS X Snow Leopard, Oracle Solaris, XenServer, and VMware ESX.

• Backup and archival storage

  Backup software and tape-library products

  Products inherited from Box Hill included backup software and renamed OEM tape libraries associated with manufacturers such as ATL Odetics and StorageTek. These activities became less central as Dot Hill shifted toward disk arrays and networked storage.

• 2015

  Sale to Seagate TechnologyM&A

  Background

  Dot Hill was an independent publicly traded enterprise-storage company listed on NASDAQ under HILL.

  Action taken

  Seagate Technology completed the acquisition of Dot Hill in October 2015.

  Aftermath

  Dot Hill ceased operating as an independent public company and its business became part of Seagate's enterprise-storage activities.

  Source

• 2010

  Relocation of operations to LongmontStrategy

  Background

  Dot Hill maintained operations in Carlsbad after the earlier Artecon combination and had also acquired a Longmont-based storage company.

  Action taken

  The company began moving almost all Carlsbad operations to Longmont, Colorado.

  Aftermath

  Longmont became the company's principal operating base as the relocation proceeded.

  Source

• 2004

  Acquisition of Chaparral Network StorageM&A

  Background

  Chaparral Network Storage was a Longmont-based manufacturer of storage systems.

  Action taken

  Dot Hill acquired Chaparral Network Storage.

  Aftermath

  The acquisition expanded Dot Hill's storage operations and contributed to its Colorado presence.

  Source

• Shift from backup and tape products toward disk arraysStrategy

  Background

  Following the combination of Box Hill and Artecon, Dot Hill had to integrate two different product portfolios and respond to weaknesses in a predecessor Fibre Channel product.

  Action taken

  The company reduced its emphasis on backup and tape products and concentrated on drive arrays, RAID systems, and networked storage.

  Aftermath

  The shift established storage arrays as the center of Dot Hill's business and was accompanied by changes in workforce, management, and operating locations.

  Source

1. 1Dot Hill Systemsen.wikipedia.org