Red Hat Purchases Data Storage Software Company

By John Vinson
Expert Author
Article Date: 2011-10-05

Data storage is becoming an extremely busy IT sector, as companies are starting to invest a lot of money in the function. So it should come as no surprise that Red Hat, a Linux software company has paid $136 million for Gluster, an open-source data storage software company.

Gluster's software is able to store massive amounts of data, especially with companies who are looking to the internet for their data storage needs. Gluster is a Sunnyvale, Calif. company, who has a staff of around 60 employees. They were founded in 2005, with the backing of numerous venture capitalists.

The software has been used by a list of well renowned companies, such as: Pandora, AMAX Corporation, University of Florida, Envoy Media, and 150 other companies.

Red Hat hopes to use the software to shift the data storage business, which relies upon different forms of proprietary software. With open-source, the software will be much more user-friendly and will rely less on precise hardware.

Red Hat's revenue stream has been growing at a steady pace this past year, and looks to rise above the $1 billion mark at the end of the current fiscal year. Though their revenue has been on the rise, they're stock has steadily decreased and currently sits 13% in the red for this year.

The market that Gluster looks to have positive effect with is close to massive levels, with the belief that there's a $4 billion market right now for open-source data storage needs.

The deal hasn't been completely finalized, but is expected to become official sometime in October. A deal which will greatly further Red Hat's long list of cloud computing features, and tools.

About the Author:
John is a staff writer for WebProNews.