3PAR
Encyclopedia
3PAR Inc. is a manufacturer of systems and software for data storage and information management headquartered in Fremont, California
, USA. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hewlett-Packard
. 3PAR produces a range of enterprise storage
products, including hardware disk array
s and storage management software. Its company slogan is "Resilient Infrastructure Agility For Less." In April 2010, the company was recognized by Forbes magazine as the fourth fastest growing technology company in its Tech25 list.
3PAR first shipped the InServ storage server in September 2002. 3PAR's primary competitors in the enterprise storage
market are EMC Corporation
, Hitachi Data Systems
and IBM
. 3PAR has been called a "pioneer and champion" for thin provisioning
, a mechanism to improve the utilization efficiency of storage capacity deployment. 3PAR first announced this capability in June 2002 and shipped it to customers in 2003.
In September 2007, 3PAR opened a second Research and Development office in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The company completed an initial public offering
in November 2007 and was initially listed on the NYSE arca. In the same month, 3PAR introduced Virtual Domains, which allow for secure application data isolation on a consolidated multi-tenant storage platform. In December 2008, 3PAR moved to the NYSE Big Board. One year later, the 3PAR opened an Indian subsidiary in Bangalore focused on providing logistical and administrative support for its Global Services and Support operations. In March 2010, the company introduced 3PAR Adaptive Optimization, the industry's first implementation of Autonomic
Storage Tiering for cost optimization in high-end storage systems, targeted at enterprises and service providers.
3PAR supplies its customers through a direct sales force in the US, the UK, Germany and Canada. It also supplies its InServ platform through storage systems integrators and channel partners in other countries around the world including Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, India, Australia, France, Luxembourg, Italy, Spain, Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, Poland, the Czech Republic, Norway and South Africa.
and
announced that it would acquire 3PAR in a transaction valued at approximately $1.15 billion, net of 3PAR's cash.
Following that, on August 23, 2010, HP announced that it had offered $1.5 billion (33% higher than Dell's offer) to acquire 3PAR in a letter sent to 3PAR's president and CEO.
On August 26, 2010, 3PAR said that it had accepted Dell's revised offer for a price of $24.30 per share, or approximately $1.6 billion, net of 3PAR's cash.
Then on August 27, both parties re-offered their bids, with Dell offering $27 a share to buy 3PAR, and HP offering $30 only 90 minutes later, valuing the company at more than $2 billion.
On September 2, 2010, Dell increased its offer to $32 per share but declined to revise its bid after HP upped its bid to $2.4 billion or $33 per share shortly thereafter. Dell received a $72 million break-up fee from 3PAR for the termination of the initial merger agreement.
On September 27, 2010, HP completed the acquisition for $2.35 billion.
architectures provide a multi-tenant platform on which service providers can deliver both virtualized
and scalable enterprise IT as a utility service. The emergence of Software as a Service
(SaaS
), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and social networking business models deployed via the internet and cloud computing
are examples of this trend. Enterprises and government organizations that are turning their IT organizations into internal service bureaus by building shared virtualized infrastructures for flexible workload consolidation are another.
3PAR's flagship SAN
product, the InServ storage server, is a component of the enterprise storage
in many data centers. It includes the models T400 and T800 which compete with high-end monolithic storage arrays like the EMC
DMX
and HDS
USP
, and the models F200 and F400 which compete with modular storage arrays like the EMC CX
and HP EVA
. The same InForm operating system software suite runs across both the F- and T-class platforms.
Fremont, California
Fremont is a city in Alameda County, California. It was incorporated on January 23, 1956, from the merger of five smaller communities: Centerville, Niles, Irvington, Mission San Jose, and Warm Springs...
, USA. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard Company or HP is an American multinational information technology corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, California, USA that provides products, technologies, softwares, solutions and services to consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses and large enterprises, including...
. 3PAR produces a range of enterprise storage
Enterprise storage
In computing, an enterprise storage is the computer storage designed for large-scale, high-technology environments of the modern enterprises. When comparing to the consumer storage, it has higher scalability, higher reliability, better fault tolerance, and much higher initial price.From the...
products, including hardware disk array
Disk array
A disk array is a disk storage system which contains multiple disk drives. It is differentiated from a disk enclosure, in that an array has cache memory and advanced functionality, like RAID and virtualization.Components of a typical disk array include:...
s and storage management software. Its company slogan is "Resilient Infrastructure Agility For Less." In April 2010, the company was recognized by Forbes magazine as the fourth fastest growing technology company in its Tech25 list.
History
3PAR was founded in 1999. The founders included Jeffrey Price and Ashok Singhal, the P and A in the company's name. The R stands for a third partner, Robert Rogers, who left the company in 2001. David Scott became President and CEO in January 2001. The company's stated mission was "to make storage solutions simple and efficient".3PAR first shipped the InServ storage server in September 2002. 3PAR's primary competitors in the enterprise storage
Enterprise storage
In computing, an enterprise storage is the computer storage designed for large-scale, high-technology environments of the modern enterprises. When comparing to the consumer storage, it has higher scalability, higher reliability, better fault tolerance, and much higher initial price.From the...
market are EMC Corporation
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...
, 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....
and IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
. 3PAR has been called a "pioneer and champion" for thin provisioning
Thin Provisioning
Thin provisioning is the act of using virtualization technology to give the appearance of more physical resource than is actually available. If you always have enough resource to simultaneously support all of the virtualized resources then you are not thin provisioned...
, a mechanism to improve the utilization efficiency of storage capacity deployment. 3PAR first announced this capability in June 2002 and shipped it to customers in 2003.
In September 2007, 3PAR opened a second Research and Development office in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The company completed an initial public offering
Initial public offering
An initial public offering or stock market launch, is the first sale of stock by a private company to the public. It can be used by either small or large companies to raise expansion capital and become publicly traded enterprises...
in November 2007 and was initially listed on the NYSE arca. In the same month, 3PAR introduced Virtual Domains, which allow for secure application data isolation on a consolidated multi-tenant storage platform. In December 2008, 3PAR moved to the NYSE Big Board. One year later, the 3PAR opened an Indian subsidiary in Bangalore focused on providing logistical and administrative support for its Global Services and Support operations. In March 2010, the company introduced 3PAR Adaptive Optimization, the industry's first implementation of Autonomic
Autonomic Computing
Autonomic Computing refers to the self-managing characteristics of distributed computing resources, adapting to unpredictable changes whilst hiding intrinsic complexity to operators and users...
Storage Tiering for cost optimization in high-end storage systems, targeted at enterprises and service providers.
3PAR supplies its customers through a direct sales force in the US, the UK, Germany and Canada. It also supplies its InServ platform through storage systems integrators and channel partners in other countries around the world including Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, India, Australia, France, Luxembourg, Italy, Spain, Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, Poland, the Czech Republic, Norway and South Africa.
and
Takeover bids
On August 16, 2010, DellDell
Dell, Inc. is an American multinational information technology corporation based in 1 Dell Way, Round Rock, Texas, United States, that develops, sells and supports computers and related products and services. Bearing the name of its founder, Michael Dell, the company is one of the largest...
announced that it would acquire 3PAR in a transaction valued at approximately $1.15 billion, net of 3PAR's cash.
Following that, on August 23, 2010, HP announced that it had offered $1.5 billion (33% higher than Dell's offer) to acquire 3PAR in a letter sent to 3PAR's president and CEO.
On August 26, 2010, 3PAR said that it had accepted Dell's revised offer for a price of $24.30 per share, or approximately $1.6 billion, net of 3PAR's cash.
Then on August 27, both parties re-offered their bids, with Dell offering $27 a share to buy 3PAR, and HP offering $30 only 90 minutes later, valuing the company at more than $2 billion.
On September 2, 2010, Dell increased its offer to $32 per share but declined to revise its bid after HP upped its bid to $2.4 billion or $33 per share shortly thereafter. Dell received a $72 million break-up fee from 3PAR for the termination of the initial merger agreement.
On September 27, 2010, HP completed the acquisition for $2.35 billion.
Products
3PAR led the development of what has been called a new category of disk arrays, "Utility Storage", that are designed to be the storage foundation for utility computing architectures. Utility computingUtility computing
Utility computing is the packaging of computing resources, such as computation, storage and services, as a metered service similar to a traditional public utility...
architectures provide a multi-tenant platform on which service providers can deliver both virtualized
Storage Virtualization
Storage virtualization or storage virtualisation is a concept and term used within computer science. Specifically, storage systems may use virtualization concepts as a tool to enable better functionality and more advanced features within the storage system.Broadly speaking, a 'storage system' is...
and scalable enterprise IT as a utility service. The emergence of Software as a Service
Software as a Service
Software as a service , sometimes referred to as "on-demand software," is a software delivery model in which software and its associated data are hosted centrally and are typically accessed by users using a thin client, normally using a web browser over the Internet.SaaS has become a common...
(SaaS
Saas
SAAS is an abbreviation for* Social Accountability Accreditation Services* Software as a service * Student Awards Agency for Scotland* Seattle Academy of Arts and Sciences* South Australian Ambulance Service...
), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and social networking business models deployed via the internet and cloud computing
Cloud computing
Cloud computing is the delivery of computing as a service rather than a product, whereby shared resources, software, and information are provided to computers and other devices as a utility over a network ....
are examples of this trend. Enterprises and government organizations that are turning their IT organizations into internal service bureaus by building shared virtualized infrastructures for flexible workload consolidation are another.
3PAR's flagship SAN
Storage area network
A storage area network is a dedicated network that provides access to consolidated, block level data storage. SANs are primarily used to make storage devices, such as disk arrays, tape libraries, and optical jukeboxes, accessible to servers so that the devices appear like locally attached devices...
product, the InServ storage server, is a component of the enterprise storage
Enterprise storage
In computing, an enterprise storage is the computer storage designed for large-scale, high-technology environments of the modern enterprises. When comparing to the consumer storage, it has higher scalability, higher reliability, better fault tolerance, and much higher initial price.From the...
in many data centers. It includes the models T400 and T800 which compete with high-end monolithic storage arrays like the 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...
DMX
Symmetrix
The Symmetrix system is EMC Corporation's flagship enterprise storage array. The Symmetrix development has been led by Moshe Yanai, who joined EMC in 1987, until shortly before his leaving EMC in 2001. There have been many generations of Symmetrix hardware, with the first appearing in 1990 and the...
and HDS
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....
USP
Universal Storage Platform
Universal Storage Platform is the brand name for an Hitachi Data Systems line of enterprise storage arrays-History :The Hitachi Universal Storage Platform, also known as the USP was first introduced in 2004....
, and the models F200 and F400 which compete with modular storage arrays like the EMC CX
CLARiiON
CLARiiON is a discontinued SAN disk array manufactured and sold by EMC Corporation, it occupies the entry-level and mid-range of EMC's SAN disk array products....
and HP EVA
HP StorageWorks
In computing, HP Storage , a portfolio of Hewlett-Packard storage products, includes online storage, nearline storage, storage networking, archiving, de-duplication, and storage software. HP has developed many industry-first storage technologies to simplify network storage...
. The same InForm operating system software suite runs across both the F- and T-class platforms.
| Model | #disks | TB max | Connect |
|---|---|---|---|
| F200 | 192 | 128 TB | 12 x 4 Gb/sec or 8 x iSCSI |
| F400 | 384 | 384 TB | 24 x 4 Gb/sec or 16 x iSCSI |
| T400 | 640 | 400 TB | 64 x 4 Gb/sec or 16 x iSCSI |
| T800 | 1280 | 800 TB | 128 x 4 Gb/sec or 32 x iSCSI |
| V400 | 960 | 800 TB | 96 x 8 Gb/sec |
| V800 | 1920 | 1,6 PB | 192 x 8 Gb/sec |