Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Dell Buys IPO-Bound EqualLogic for $1.4 Billion

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the money-flying-making-a-new-bubble dept.

alphadogg writes "Dell is stretching further behind PCs and servers and boosting its storage business with a $1.4 billion buyout of EqualLogic, a storage company that filed to go public in August. CEO Michael Dell had hinted just last week that Dell could be on the prowl for some big game."

6 of 54 comments (clear)

  1. Implications for EMC? by crow · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I wonder if this has any implications for Dell's partnership with EMC. Will Dell not be pushing EMC's low-end iSCSI storage now that they have their own? Or do the offerings from this new acquisition not compete at the same level as the EMC products?

    Disclaimer: I work at EMC, but have no inside knowledge concerning Dell or this acquisition.

    1. Re:Implications for EMC? by morgan_greywolf · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I think almost nobody takes EMC**2's low-end iSCSI storage very seriously. I think most people using EMC**2 hardware are doing so because EMC**2 has a reputation as a high-end player. Their low-end iSCSI implementation is a LOT more expensive than other offerings from smaller, more nimble companies like EqualLogic. If I'm shooting for the low-end hardware, I might as well get the best price I can, no?

      --
      My blog
  2. Re:Overpriced by crow · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Right. And the reason virtualization leads to increased use of SAN storage is that when you virtualize a bunch of logical servers onto a small number of physical servers, it suddenly becomes much more practical to use higher-end storage, as you don't have to have separate expensive HBAs, switches, and whatnot to connect to your fancy storage systems.

  3. What will be left in two years? by The+Second+Horseman · · Score: 5, Interesting

    EqualLogic was kind of a cool company that bundled value and decent software engineering into a good package, and had good support for stuff besides just Windows and Linux (VMware, NetWare, etc). Good service, etc. There are probably more than a few EqualLogic customers that are less than thrilled about this.

  4. Cool! by spazimodo · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I've been talking to Equallogic guys at various VMWare events and I think they've got a great product. The biggest pain with implementing ESX has been the cost around shared SAN storage (yes you can use NAS now but come on.)

    I love VMWare, but can't stand their parent corp (EMC) and can't wait for the Compaqification of the SAN market with the part of IBM played by EMC. Any company that forces their customers to buy $100 SATA drives for $900 deserves to die at the hands of commoditization.

    --

    Fsck the millennium, we want it now.
    Millennium Crisis Line: 0890 900 2000 [calls cost 50p/min]
  5. Interesting buy for Dell by warpedma · · Score: 3, Informative

    The whole EMC thing makes me wonder the reason for the purchase. That having been said, we've been using EqualLogic for 2 1/2 years, and at the price point, it's pretty much unbeatable. It's ridiculously easy to configure and grow. We've a small staff with a huge amount of storage (35 TB) due to the image intensive nature of our work (digital imaging). EqualLogic has been a life save for us from both time and performance standpoints. We could not have gotten purchase approval for anything faster.