NEWS:Vixel Acquires Arcxel -- a Fibre Channel Switch Manufacturer to Provide One-Stop Shopping; Vixel Expands Product Line to Meet Storage Networking Needs
BOTHELL, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 24, 1998--Vixel Corporation, a leading developer and manufacturer of Fibre Channel storage interconnect solutions, announced today that it has acquired Arcxel Technologies, Inc., a leading developer and manufacturer of gigabit switch products.
The Irvine, Calif.-based company recently introduced the AGS/8 Fibre Channel Fabric, the industry's first full-featured Fibre Channel switch. Providing simultaneous support for both Fibre Channel arbitrated loop and point-to-point network topologies, the AGS/8 also provides support for heterogeneous computing environments while enabling seamless migration from hubs to switches.
"It is strategic to Vixel's vision to continue making investments that provide a comprehensive line of interconnect products for the storage networking market. Our solutions include a powerful portfolio of hardware and software management for a wide range of operating system platforms," said Greg Olbright, CEO and president of Vixel. "This is a first for this industry where customers can go to one company to purchase all of the major interconnect components required to build a storage network."
Vixel is the only company offering a complete line of Fibre Channel storage interconnect products including switches and hubs (unmanaged and managed) to meet a full range of copper and optical-based requirements. Vixel has created alliances with some of the strongest players in the storage and server market, including Compaq and Sun Microsystems, to provide IT with complete storage solutions. As a result, the company has emerged as a leader in this rapidly growing marketplace and is the number one supplier of Fibre Channel interconnect products, having shipped more than 50,000 gigabit hub ports for the UNIX and NT marketplaces.
Jay O'Donald, CEO and president of Arcxel, will assume the responsibilities of vice president of development for Vixel's switch products. "Putting these two companies together creates a broad product portfolio," said Jay O'Donald, "and we'll be in a much stronger position to ramp up manufacturing, service and support for those customers that have successfully evaluated and expressed a high level of interest in the AGS/8 switch."
In the current application-centric enterprise, the datacenter's biggest challenge is managing growth and cost. IT is constantly evaluating ways to move data-intensive applications from servers to storage networks in the most cost-effective, least intrusive manner possible. Vixel's modular approach to its products allows for a low cost-of-ownership solution, and the flexibility to grow the system as dictated by enterprise computing needs and emerging technology.
"Vixel's product portfolio now allows customers to scale from entry level hub configurations with low cost-per-port unmanaged hubs, to mid-range configurations with its managed hubs, to high-end fabric switching," commented Jay Kramer, director of business development and marketing for Unisys.
"PrimeSource Corporation, a leading supplier of innovative, technology-based solutions to the graphics arts industry, is just getting started in the Fibre Channel market and has a real appreciation for the degree of complexity involved in building storage networks. Working with a limited number of suppliers that offer a complete line of products assures a more interoperable solution that our users can trust," explained John Goddard, executive vice president of PrimeSource. "As a result of this acquisition, Vixel will be able to offer a more robust, comprehensive solution to the indirect channel."
About The Market
Preliminary Dataquest estimates indicate that the Fibre Channel switch and hub market will reach $1 billion by the year 2001. "The enterprise storage component mix is changing as more value is being placed on the glass-house network infrastructure. Fibre Channel hubs and switches are integral components in storage area networks (SANs)," stated Thomas Lahive, senior storage analyst with Dataquest. "Dataquest estimates that users will spend approximately $10 billion on Fibre Channel disk subsystems by 2000 and 90% of these systems will be connected to switches and hubs. The Vixel/Arcxel merger provides the combined entity with a broader product line to take advantage of this new market opportunity."
"Although the number of switches represents roughly 20% of these projected units, customers consider this product to be an essential part of the overall interconnect for configuring storage networks," said Jeff Vogel, vice president of marketing at Vixel. "Switches offer the best price-performance when hooking up many devices over time without impact to overall application performance."
"This is a brilliant move in terms of broadening the product line," said Paul Johnson, managing partner of equity research for BancAmerica Robertson Stephens. "The market for Fibre Channel storage networking is big. This is a major tornado in the making with parallels similar to the communications industry back in the late 80's when networking grew out of nowhere to a multi-billion dollar market."
Added Robert Montague, Managing Director, Equity Research at Morgan Keegan, "The synergies associated with this combination make this a significant transaction. The merged Vixel-Arcxel triples their addressable interconnect market opportunity based on preliminary Dataquest estimates for the year 2001. By acquiring Arcxel's switch technology, Vixel has shortened its time to market and positioned itself among the leaders of this emerging technology."
About Vixel
Founded in 1991, Vixel markets Fibre Channel storage interconnect solutions to mainstream computer, storage, and peripheral manufacturers. Vixel products, including switches, hubs, and transceivers provide the connectivity required for managing growth as well as the reliable enterprise-wide data access, maximum system availability and performance for data and bandwidth intensive applications such as Internet commerce and databases, CAD/CAM, data warehousing, online banking, real-time medical analysis, and full motion video. Vixel's headquarters is in Bothell, Wash., with sales offices in California, Massachusetts and Texas. For more information, contact the company at: 11911 North Creek Pkwy. So., Bothell, WA 98011. Phone: 425/806-4011. Fax: 425/806-4050. Email: marketing@seattle.vixel.com, or visit Vixel's Web site at vixel.com.
CONTACT:
Vixel Corporation Parker LePla
Mary Lindstrom Eric Nobis
425/806-4011 206/285-5280
mlindstrom@vixel.com nobis@parkerlepla.com |
