Server Will Enable ISPs to Offer Data Services

The Seagate and Cobalt alliance will produce a Linux-based server/data storage combo appliance that will offer many new possibilities to ISPs and ASPs.

by Wayne Kawamoto [April 7, 2000]

Seagate Technology, Inc. announced the first of its Linux-based server appliances that will be targeted towards ISPs and ASPs, a result of its strategic partnership with Cobalt Networks, Inc. The strategic partnership gives Seagate access to Cobalt's ISP clients, and allows the two companies to combine Seagate's storage devices with Cobalt's servers to create a new storage server appliance.

According to company officials, the first Seagate server appliance solution will provide scalable storage and data protection capabilities to ISPs and ASPs, which may be offered to their small business customers. When using its server appliance, Seagate says that ISPs and ASPs will be able to generate incremental revenues by vending storage and data protection applications.

"As Web-based applications continue to evolve and drive storage requirements, the idea of an ISP providing storage as an incremental service to their small-to-medium sized business customers is becoming more and more of a reality," says Tom Mulvaney, senior vice president, Internet Solutions group at Seagate Technology.

"As the Internet Service Provider market matures, competition becomes fierce," says Stephen DeWitt, president and CEO, Cobalt Networks, Inc. "Seagate is capitalizing on its storage and data protection expertise and leveraging Cobalt server appliances to deliver tools to service providers that enable them to expand their service offerings to the growing small-to-medium sized business customers that are flocking to the Internet for their business-critical applications."

Cobalt's website claims that through the agreement between the two companies, "Seagate is granted complete access to Cobalt's large installed base of worldwide customers, including over 1,000 ISPs. This agreement will help increase Cobalt's efforts to capture marketshare in the server appliance space and to leverage Seagate's established sales and distribution channel that will broaden the Company's sales outlets. The agreement also provides Seagate the opportunity to utilize Cobalt's third party developer program for application development on the Seagate server appliances. Applications that will be developed on the Seagate server appliance will also be available for the Cobalt platform. Because the Seagate server appliance platform is Linux-based, application development and deployment will reduce time-to-market for Seagate's suite of solutions."

Pricing and Availability
The first Seagate server appliance solution is scheduled to be available this summer. The company will announce pricing and product specifications at that time.

Related Article
Seagate goes private and sells Veritas stake, April 4 2000.

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