Fabrik Inc.

Fabrik Inc. was a California-based storage and digital-content company founded in August 2005 by former Maxtor executives Mike Cordano and Keyur Patel. It began as a software venture focused on smart network-attached storage, or NAS, systems: the company's technology was intended to classify, search, organize, and share digital media rather than merely store files. Its early engineering work was connected with the Maxtor Fusion NAS device, which used visual organization and search features for photos, video, music, and other digital assets. The company developed from a software-oriented startup into a broader storage business. In February 2006, it partnered with Maxtor to develop Maxtor Fusion. After Maxtor had been acquired by Seagate, Fabrik's technology was used in the development of a web-based media-management service associated with myfabrik.com. Fabrik subsequently raised several rounds of venture financing, including Series A, Series B, and later funding rounds, although the available reference material does not establish a complete independently verified financial history beyond the amounts reported in contemporary descriptions. A major strategic shift occurred in February 2007, when Fabrik acquired the consumer business of SimpleTech. This gave the company an established line of external hard drives aimed at mainstream consumers and small businesses, including portable and desktop products bundled with local backup software and online-backup capabilities. SimpleTech broadened Fabrik beyond NAS software and positioned the company in the rapidly expanding consumer external-storage market. In January 2008, Fabrik acquired G-Technology, a storage brand serving Macintosh users, photographers, creative professionals, and audio/video production customers. The acquisition added higher-performance external storage products using interfaces such as FireWire, eSATA, USB, SCSI, and Fibre Channel. Fabrik therefore operated across distinct customer segments: mainstream users through SimpleTech, professional content creators through G-Technology, and online media organization and backup users through its software and web services. Fabrik also introduced Joggle, a free online digital-content management and sharing service, at the DEMO conference in early 2008. Joggle was designed to find media stored on a user's computer, external drive, or online communities and consolidate it into an online tool for organizing and sharing photos, video, and music. Its other software-oriented offering, Fabrik Ultimate Backup, provided remote backup using encrypted connections and server-based storage. The company presented its portfolio as four related brands: SimpleTech, G-Technology, Joggle, and Fabrik Ultimate Backup. The hardware brands retained distinct identities and online presences, while Fabrik supplied the corporate structure and technology platform behind them. Its SimpleTech [re]drive also emphasized environmental design through a recyclable enclosure and resource-efficiency features, and the broader SimpleTech portable-storage design had been associated with the Italian design firm Pininfarina. On February 23, 2009, Hitachi Global Storage Technologies announced an agreement to acquire Fabrik. The transaction closed on April 6, 2009, and Fabrik became the basis of Hitachi GST's new Branded Business division. After the acquisition, the professional-storage business was presented under the name G-Technology by Hitachi. Fabrik consequently ceased to operate as an independent brand and corporate entity, although elements of its acquired product portfolio continued within Hitachi's storage business.

Fabrik Inc. was established in August 2005 by Mike Cordano and Keyur Patel, both former Maxtor executives. The founders initially pursued smart NAS software capable of doing more than basic file storage. The platform was designed to categorize digital media and support visual browsing and search, reflecting the growing importance of photos, music, and video in personal computing. Robert Free led the initial engineering team and had previously been involved in the development of the Maxtor Fusion NAS concept. In February 2006, Fabrik partnered with Maxtor to develop Maxtor Fusion, a network-attached storage device for organizing and sharing digital files. Following Seagate's acquisition of Maxtor, Fabrik's technology contributed to the creation of a web-based media-management service associated with myfabrik.com. During this early period, the company developed its identity around web-based storage and raised multiple rounds of private financing. Fabrik expanded into branded hardware in February 2007 by acquiring the consumer business of SimpleTech. SimpleTech supplied portable and desktop external hard drives for consumers and small businesses. The products were marketed with local backup software and online-backup functionality, allowing Fabrik to combine storage hardware with data-protection services. The SimpleTech [re]drive later promoted recyclable enclosure materials and resource-efficiency features, while the portable-product design was associated with Pininfarina. The company's second major acquisition came in January 2008, when it acquired G-Technology. G-Technology served professional and creative markets, including Macintosh users, photographers, and audio/video production specialists. Its portfolio included external drives using FireWire, eSATA, USB, SCSI, and Fibre Channel connections. This gave Fabrik a two-tier hardware strategy: SimpleTech for mainstream and small-business customers, and G-Technology for professional content workflows. Fabrik also pursued online services. It introduced Joggle at the DEMO conference in January 2008 as a free online system for finding and organizing photos, music, and video across a user's local computer, external storage, and selected online communities. Fabrik Ultimate Backup offered a more focused remote-backup service using encrypted data transmission and off-site storage. Together, these offerings reflected Fabrik's original ambition to connect local storage, online backup, and digital-media organization. By 2008, the company described its portfolio through four principal brands: SimpleTech, G-Technology, Joggle, and Fabrik Ultimate Backup. The acquired hardware brands retained their own identities, while Fabrik served as the parent company and technology platform. The combination of acquisitions and new services made Fabrik a storage company with both hardware and software capabilities rather than a single-product manufacturer. On February 23, 2009, Hitachi Global Storage Technologies announced that it had agreed to acquire Fabrik. The transaction was completed on April 6, 2009. Fabrik became the foundation of Hitachi GST's Branded Business division, ending its independent corporate operation. The professional-storage activities were subsequently associated with the name G-Technology by Hitachi. Fabrik is therefore best understood as a defunct storage-technology company whose principal brands and capabilities continued, at least in part, under its acquirer.

• 2009

  Acquired by Hitachi GST

  [1]Fabrik Inc.en.wikipedia.org

  Hitachi Global Storage Technologies completed its acquisition of Fabrik in April.

• 2008

  G-Technology acquired

  [1]Fabrik Inc.en.wikipedia.org

  Fabrik acquired G-Technology, adding professional storage products for creative and audio/video users.

• 2008

  Joggle introduced

  [1]Fabrik Inc.en.wikipedia.org

  Fabrik introduced Joggle as a free online digital-content organization and sharing service.

• 2007

  SimpleTech consumer business acquired

  [1]Fabrik Inc.en.wikipedia.org

  Fabrik acquired SimpleTech's consumer business and entered the branded external-hard-drive market at greater scale.

• 2006

  Maxtor Fusion partnership

  [1]Fabrik Inc.en.wikipedia.org

  Fabrik partnered with Maxtor to develop the Fusion NAS device for digital-file organization and sharing.

• 2006

  myfabrik.com launches

  [1]Fabrik Inc.en.wikipedia.org

  The company launched a web-based service for organizing and storing digital media online.

• 2005

  Fabrik is founded

  [1]Fabrik Inc.en.wikipedia.org

  Mike Cordano and Keyur Patel founded Fabrik in August as a smart NAS software company.

Fabrik positioned itself at the intersection of physical data storage and online digital-content management. Its portfolio served mainstream consumers and small businesses through SimpleTech, professional photographers and audio/video creators through G-Technology, and users seeking media organization, sharing, and remote backup through Joggle and Fabrik Ultimate Backup.

• Consumer and small-business external storage

  SimpleTech

  SimpleTech was Fabrik's mainstream external-storage line for consumers and small businesses. It included portable and desktop external hard drives and was differentiated by bundling local backup software with online-backup capabilities. The SimpleTech [re]drive emphasized environmental considerations through a recyclable enclosure and resource-efficiency features. The product family helped transform Fabrik from a NAS-software startup into a broader storage-hardware supplier.

• Professional external storage

  G-Technology

  G-Technology supplied external storage for Macintosh users, photographers, creative professionals, and audio/video production workflows. Its portfolio included products using FireWire, eSATA, USB, SCSI, and Fibre Channel interfaces. Fabrik acquired the business in January 2008, extending its reach into performance-sensitive professional markets. After the Hitachi acquisition, the brand was presented as G-Technology by Hitachi.

• Online digital-content management and sharing · 2008

  Joggle

  Joggle was a free web-based service introduced by Fabrik in early 2008. It was designed to search for photos, music, and video across a user's computer, external hard drive, and online communities, then bring those materials together in a single environment for organization and sharing. The service represented Fabrik's effort to connect local storage with online media management.

• Online backup

  Fabrik Ultimate Backup

  Fabrik Ultimate Backup was the company's dedicated online-backup offering. It used remote servers to store user data and described security measures including 128-bit SSL transmission and Blowfish encryption. The service complemented Fabrik's external-drive products by providing off-site data protection rather than relying solely on a local disk.

• 2009

  Accept acquisition by Hitachi Global Storage TechnologiesM&A

  Background

  Fabrik had assembled a portfolio spanning external drives, online backup, and digital-content management.

  Action taken

  Hitachi GST agreed to acquire Fabrik in February and completed the transaction on April 6.

  Aftermath

  Fabrik became the core of Hitachi GST's Branded Business division, and the professional-storage operation was associated with G-Technology by Hitachi.

  Source

• 2008

  Acquire G-TechnologyM&A

  Background

  Fabrik needed a stronger position among creative professionals and audio/video content producers.

  Action taken

  It acquired G-Technology and added professional external-storage products to its portfolio.

  Aftermath

  The company operated across both mainstream consumer storage and higher-performance professional workflows.

  Source

• 2007

  Acquire the SimpleTech consumer businessM&A

  Background

  Fabrik began as a smart-storage software company but sought a larger presence in consumer and small-business storage hardware.

  Action taken

  The company acquired SimpleTech's consumer business, including its external-hard-drive product line.

  Aftermath

  Fabrik gained a mainstream hardware portfolio and bundled local and online backup capabilities with SimpleTech products.

  Source

1. 1Fabrik Inc.en.wikipedia.org