Dell tunes up storage with Ocarina deal

Dell's search for a storage optimisation technology of its own is coming to an end, thanks to the agreement to acquire Ocarina Networks for an undisclosed sum.

Ocarina specialises in content-aware storage optimisation by comparing files to known types and using a library of algorithms to determine common factors. It then removes them and further compresses the file.

This contrasts with block optimisation for structured files, where duplicate files are weeded out and stored only once.

Using the Ocarina system means unstructured files, such as images, Powerpoint files, spreadsheets and emails, can be reduced.

Ocarina is a three-year old company and the impetus that Dell's financial input brings is being welcomed by its chief executive (CEO), Murli Thirumale.

"Dell takes our current trajectory and straps a big rocket engine to it," he said.

In return, the company allows Dell to compete head-on with storage rivals Cisco, HP and IBM.

Dell will use the technology in conjunction with its EquaLogic storage arrays. This will probably mean the end of Ocarina's own hardware appliance offerings, but both companies confirmed support for existing products will still be provided.

Brad Anderson, Dell's senior president for the Enterprise Storage Group, said: "Content-aware deduplication allows us to provide a true global approach to deduplication across the data centre and has a tremendous ripple effect of cost savings that frees up budgets for strategic investments."

The announcement comes on the heels of rumours that IBM is poised to acquire Storwize, one of Ocarina's competitors.

The deal is expected to be completed by the end of the month, Dell confirmed.