BlueArc
Encyclopedia
BlueArc Corporation is a network storage device manufacturer headquartered in San Jose, California
. BlueArc was founded in 1998 by Geoff Barrall, Jeff Pinkham and Jon Meyer. Initially based in the UK, BlueArc transitioned its HQ to the US (Mountain View) in 2000 and became a US corporation at that time although still maintains a sizable engineering facility in England. The company moved to San Jose in July 2001. BlueArc was acquired by Hitachi Data Systems
on September 7, 2011.
BlueArc's products are network attached storage (NAS
) systems that are sold either as appliances bundled with storage, or as NAS heads supporting third party SAN connected storage. The current product line includes the low-end 1000 series, midrange 2000 series and high-end 3000 series. The products are differentiated by their performance, capacity and host port connectivity.
The primary differentiating feature of the BlueArc's NAS products in comparison to their competition is BlueArc's heavy reliance on FPGA's, or field programmable gate arrays. The FPGA's provide hardware acceleration of processing which typically occurs in software running on general purpose CPU's on competing products. As a result, BlueArc is able to provide high performance for a single system or node. Another feature of BlueArc's products is their ability to be clustered together into groups of up to 8 nodes. Some competing systems from Isilon, and NetApp offer similar clustering capabilities.
BlueArc competes with offerings from companies such as EMC
, NetApp, Sun Microsystems
and smaller companies including Isilon. The company distributes its products on a direct basis, through third-party resellers, and by OEM partners, including a 5-year global agreement with Hitachi Data Systems.
BlueArc's product line is differentiated through its hardware architecture, founded on FPGA
technology. BlueArc holds the world record for single system and dual system performance on SPECsfs, an NFS test provided by SPEC.org.
In June 2011, BlueArc filed with the SEC to raise up to $100 million in an initial public offering. The company abandoned its IPO plans in September 2011 following its agreement to be acquired by Hitachi Data Systems for a reported $600 million.
On September 7, 2011, BlueArc, Inc. was officially acquired by Hitachi Data Systems (HDS).
San Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
. BlueArc was founded in 1998 by Geoff Barrall, Jeff Pinkham and Jon Meyer. Initially based in the UK, BlueArc transitioned its HQ to the US (Mountain View) in 2000 and became a US corporation at that time although still maintains a sizable engineering facility in England. The company moved to San Jose in July 2001. BlueArc was acquired by Hitachi Data Systems
Hitachi Data Systems
Hitachi Data Systems is a company providing mid-range and high-end storage systems, software and services. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hitachi Ltd. and part of the Hitachi Information Systems & Telecommunications Division....
on September 7, 2011.
BlueArc's products are network attached storage (NAS
Network-attached storage
Network-attached storage is file-level computer data storage connected to a computer network providing data access to heterogeneous clients. NAS not only operates as a file server, but is specialized for this task either by its hardware, software, or configuration of those elements...
) systems that are sold either as appliances bundled with storage, or as NAS heads supporting third party SAN connected storage. The current product line includes the low-end 1000 series, midrange 2000 series and high-end 3000 series. The products are differentiated by their performance, capacity and host port connectivity.
The primary differentiating feature of the BlueArc's NAS products in comparison to their competition is BlueArc's heavy reliance on FPGA's, or field programmable gate arrays. The FPGA's provide hardware acceleration of processing which typically occurs in software running on general purpose CPU's on competing products. As a result, BlueArc is able to provide high performance for a single system or node. Another feature of BlueArc's products is their ability to be clustered together into groups of up to 8 nodes. Some competing systems from Isilon, and NetApp offer similar clustering capabilities.
BlueArc competes with offerings from companies such as EMC
EMC Corporation
EMC Corporation , a Financial Times Global 500, Fortune 500 and S&P 500 company, develops, delivers and supports information infrastructure and virtual infrastructure hardware, software, and services. EMC is headquartered in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, USA.Former Intel executive Richard Egan and his...
, NetApp, Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems
Sun Microsystems, Inc. was a company that sold :computers, computer components, :computer software, and :information technology services. Sun was founded on February 24, 1982...
and smaller companies including Isilon. The company distributes its products on a direct basis, through third-party resellers, and by OEM partners, including a 5-year global agreement with Hitachi Data Systems.
BlueArc's product line is differentiated through its hardware architecture, founded on FPGA
Field-programmable gate array
A field-programmable gate array is an integrated circuit designed to be configured by the customer or designer after manufacturing—hence "field-programmable"...
technology. BlueArc holds the world record for single system and dual system performance on SPECsfs, an NFS test provided by SPEC.org.
In June 2011, BlueArc filed with the SEC to raise up to $100 million in an initial public offering. The company abandoned its IPO plans in September 2011 following its agreement to be acquired by Hitachi Data Systems for a reported $600 million.
On September 7, 2011, BlueArc, Inc. was officially acquired by Hitachi Data Systems (HDS).