Data storage systems maker LSI Logic revealed Feb. 16 that it will acquire SiliconStor, a privately held company that provides silicon products for enterprise storage networks, for about $55 million in cash. SiliconStor, headquartered in Fremont, Calif., has approximately 30 employees.
SiliconStor provides storage technology focused on the SATA (serial ATA) and SAS (serial attached SCSI) markets and is shipping patent-pending products that improve the performance and reliability of SATA drives when used in a SAS environment, an LSI Logic spokesperson said.
LSI Logic, which has a wide-ranging IT product and service line, has been on a sort of buying spree lately. On Dec. 4, the company said it would buy Agere Systems for about $4 billion in stock, extending in a big way its reach into the mobile phone chip market.
On Oct. 25, the company announced the purchase of Israeli firm StoreAge Networking Technologies in a cash deal worth about $50 million.
The addition of SiliconStor fits into LSI Logics overall strategy to offer server and storage system customers complete storage packages, including IC (integrated circuit) controllers, ROC (RAID-on-Chip), expanders, RAID software and HBAs (host bus adapters) for the fast-growing SAS infrastructure.
With the addition of SiliconStor, LSI Logic, based in neighboring Milpitas, Calif., will be positioned as one of the few storage building-block suppliers to offer a solution for all nodes in the storage systems architecture, the spokesperson said.
“As the demand for low-cost, high-capacity storage solutions with reliable connectivity continues to grow, we are seeing a significant increase in the use of SAS and SATA disk drives in enterprise applications,” said Bill Wuertz, senior vice president, Storage Components Group, LSI Logic.
“The SiliconStor acquisition, in combination with our industry leading line-up of SAS controllers, will enable LSI to offer a complete portfolio of interoperable SAS, SATA, and software building blocks.”
The transaction is expected to close by the end of March, the spokesperson said.