Ixia Communications Inc. has acquired the source code rights to NetIQ Corp.s Chariot network traffic simulation software, allowing the network performance testing provider to integrate Chariot with its existing platform and to add other extensions.
The Calabasas, Calif., company acquired exclusive U.S. and Canadian distribution rights to Chariot, along with the source code access, for $17.5 million and royalties on existing Chariot products. Ixia also has the option to buy the remaining Chariot assets after 18 months for $2.5 million.
The deal builds on an existing distribution agreement between the two companies, according to Tom Miller, chief financial officer for Ixia.
Chariot, which came with NetIQs acquisition of Mission Critical Software Inc. a couple of years ago, never served the primary target market that NetIQ or Mission Critical Software addressed.
“Network testing has been a profitable business, but the primary audience is not core to NetIQ,” said Tom Kemp, senior vice president of corporate strategy and development at NetIQ, in San Jose, Calif. “NetIQ is focused on the systems manager, the security manager and so on. Ixia is already selling to the Chariot buyer.”
Chariot, which simulates the kind of traffic generated by networked applications such as voice over IP and IP multicast and Oracle Corp. and SAP AG transactions, allows Ixia to provide testing for higher-layer protocol traffic. Ixias customers, typically network equipment or enterprise network operators, use Real World Traffic Suite to test switches, routers and full-blown networks before going into production.