Xsigo Systems

Xsigo Systems was a privately held information-technology and hardware company founded in August 2004 and based in San Jose, California. Its business focused on simplifying data-center connectivity through I/O virtualization, a technology intended to reduce the number of physical network and storage interfaces required by enterprise servers. The company’s principal offering, the Xsigo I/O Director, combined specialized hardware with host software to centralize and virtualize server I/O resources. Traditional enterprise servers commonly required separate Ethernet interfaces for network traffic and Fibre Channel interfaces for storage access. Xsigo’s approach connected a server to an I/O Director through a high-speed Ethernet or InfiniBand link, then presented configurable virtual Ethernet and virtual Fibre Channel interfaces to the operating system and applications. These virtual interfaces were designed to function like conventional network and storage adapters while allowing administrators to provision or modify resources remotely. The model sought to reduce cabling and adapter complexity, make infrastructure changes without physically opening servers, and limit disruption associated with reconfiguring data-center equipment. Xsigo was established by Ashok Krishnamurthi, R.K. Anand, S.K. Vinod, and Shreyas Shah. The company attracted investment from Kleiner Perkins, Khosla Ventures, North Bridge Venture Partners, and Greylock Partners. Its leadership included Ashok Krishnamurthi, who served as vice-chairman and had previously held senior infrastructure-product responsibilities at Juniper Networks, and Lloyd Carney, who served as chief executive officer. Carney had earlier been general manager of IBM’s Netcool division, chairman and chief executive officer of Micromuse, and chief operating officer at Juniper Networks, in addition to senior roles at Nortel Networks. The company pursued intellectual-property protection for its technology and received a patent in 2011 for a system enabling communication between computer systems through an I/O bus. Its products also received industry recognition, including a Wall Street Journal Technology Innovation Award in the Network / Internet Technologies category and a Storage Magazine Product of the Year award in networking equipment. The VP780 I/O Director was nominated for a SYS-CON Virtualization Journal Readers’ Choice award in the network-virtualization category. Oracle announced its acquisition of Xsigo at the end of July 2012, and the transaction was completed on September 12, 2012. Following the acquisition, Xsigo ceased operating as an independent company. The acquisition placed its I/O-virtualization technology within Oracle’s broader enterprise hardware and data-center portfolio. Public reference material does not establish a continuing standalone Xsigo brand, independent website, or post-acquisition corporate structure.

Xsigo Systems was founded in August 2004 in San Jose, California, by brothers Ashok Krishnamurthi, R.K. Anand, and S.K. Vinod, together with Shreyas Shah. The company was created to address the complexity of server connectivity in enterprise data centers. At the time, servers frequently required multiple physical Ethernet and Fibre Channel adapters, extensive cabling, and manual intervention when network or storage requirements changed. Xsigo developed an approach based on I/O virtualization, separating the logical presentation of network and storage interfaces from the physical adapter configuration. The company remained privately held and received funding from Kleiner Perkins, Khosla Ventures, North Bridge Venture Partners, and Greylock Partners. Its leadership combined experience from enterprise software, networking, and infrastructure companies. Ashok Krishnamurthi served as vice-chairman after previously working as vice president and general manager of the infrastructure product line at Juniper Networks. Lloyd Carney became chief executive officer; his earlier positions included general manager of IBM’s Netcool division, chairman and chief executive officer of Micromuse, chief operating officer at Juniper Networks, and leadership roles at Nortel Networks. Xsigo’s central product was the I/O Director. The system used a high-speed Ethernet or InfiniBand connection between a server and the virtualization appliance. Through Xsigo hardware and host drivers, the system created virtual Ethernet interfaces, commonly described as vNICs, and virtual Fibre Channel interfaces, commonly described as vHBAs. These resources were presented to server software in a form comparable to conventional physical network and storage adapters. Administrators could create and provision virtual resources without opening the server or rebooting it, and could manage I/O assignments remotely rather than by physically changing equipment in the data center. The technology was supported by intellectual-property work. Xsigo filed a patent application covering communication between computer systems through an I/O bus, and the patent was granted on May 3, 2011. The company also received industry attention. Its reported achievements included a Wall Street Journal Technology Innovation Award in the Network / Internet Technologies category and a Storage Magazine Product of the Year award in networking equipment. The VP780 I/O Director was nominated for a SYS-CON Virtualization Journal Readers’ Choice award for best network virtualization. Xsigo’s independent corporate history ended with its acquisition by Oracle. Oracle announced the transaction at the end of July 2012, and the deal was finalized on September 12, 2012. After the transaction, Xsigo no longer operated as an independent company. The acquisition was strategically consistent with Oracle’s interest in integrated enterprise systems and data-center infrastructure, although the available reference material does not document the detailed terms, purchase price, product-renaming decisions, or the extent to which Xsigo products were subsequently integrated into Oracle offerings.

• 2012

  Oracle announces acquisition

  [1]Xsigo Systemsen.wikipedia.org

  Oracle announced at the end of July that it would acquire Xsigo Systems.

• 2012

  Acquisition completed

  [1]Xsigo Systemsen.wikipedia.org

  Oracle completed its purchase of Xsigo Systems on September 12, ending the company’s independent corporate existence.

• 2011

  I/O-bus communication patent granted

  [1]Xsigo Systemsen.wikipedia.org

  A patent covering communication between computer systems through an I/O bus was granted on May 3, 2011.

• 2004

  Company founded

  [1]Xsigo Systemsen.wikipedia.org

  Xsigo Systems was founded in August in San Jose, California, by Ashok Krishnamurthi, R.K. Anand, S.K. Vinod, and Shreyas Shah.

Xsigo Systems positioned itself as an enterprise data-center infrastructure specialist that could simplify server connectivity and administration through centralized I/O virtualization. Its value proposition centered on replacing multiple physical Ethernet and Fibre Channel adapters with a smaller number of high-speed connections while allowing virtual interfaces to be provisioned remotely.

• Data-center I/O virtualization

  I/O Director

  The Xsigo I/O Director was a combined hardware and software system for consolidating and managing server network and storage I/O. It replaced a server’s collection of separate Ethernet and Fibre Channel connections with a high-speed Ethernet or InfiniBand link to the appliance. Host drivers and virtualization hardware then presented configurable virtual Ethernet and Fibre Channel interfaces to the server. The design allowed administrators to provision I/O resources while servers were running and without physically entering the data center or rebooting the host.

• Network virtualization appliance

  VP780 I/O Director

  The VP780 was an Xsigo I/O Director model associated with the company’s network-virtualization product line. It used Xsigo’s virtual-interface approach to provide configurable Ethernet and storage connectivity from a centralized appliance. The model was nominated for a SYS-CON Virtualization Journal Readers’ Choice award in the network-virtualization category.

• 2012

  Oracle acquisition of Xsigo SystemsM&A

  Background

  Xsigo had developed enterprise data-center I/O virtualization hardware and software, while Oracle maintained a broader enterprise hardware and infrastructure portfolio.

  Action taken

  Oracle announced the acquisition at the end of July 2012 and completed it on September 12, 2012.

  Aftermath

  Xsigo ceased operating as an independent company. Public reference material does not provide the transaction value or a detailed account of subsequent product integration.

  Source

1. 1Xsigo Systemsen.wikipedia.org