IBM completed its previously announced acquisition of BLADE Network Technologies, a privately held company based in Santa Clara, CA. Financial details were not disclosed. BLADE will become part of IBM Systems and Technology Group. The company specializes in software and devices that route data and transactions to and from servers.
BLADE provides blade server and top-of-rack switches, as well as software to virtualize and manage cloud computing and other workloads. The company has pursued the “switch on a blade” concept and has shipped over 9 million ports to date. BLADE has also developed switching virtualization software for cloud computing environments. This allows servers to more closely integrate with the network so that clients can deploy thousands of virtual machines to run large application workloads in the cloud and reduce complexity through simplified management.
IBM said the acquisition builds on its networking capabilities. IBM and BLADE have worked together since 2002, resulting in thousands of joint clients. In fact, over 50 percent of IBM System x BladeCenters currently attach to or use BLADE products.
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