3PAR

3PAR. 3PAR was a pioneering company in the utility computing and cloud storage infrastructure market, known for its highly efficient and scalable storage area network systems. Founded in 1999, it developed innovative thin provisioning and data deduplication technologies that revolutionized enterprise storage economics. The company became a significant competitor in the high-end storage market before its acquisition by Hewlett-Packard.

History

The company was founded in 1999 by engineers Ashok Singhal, Jeffrey H. Price, and Robert L. Rogers, with early backing from prominent venture capital firms like Menlo Ventures and Worldview Technology Partners. It emerged from stealth mode in 2002, launching its inaugural InServ storage server, which was designed from the ground up for multi-tenant, utility-like services. A significant early partnership with Sun Microsystems in 2003 helped validate its technology, leading to a successful initial public offering on the NASDAQ in 2007. The company's trajectory shifted dramatically in 2010 when it became the subject of a fierce, public bidding war between Hewlett-Packard and Dell, culminating in HP's acquisition for $2.35 billion, a move widely seen as a strategic effort by HP to bolster its portfolio against rivals like IBM and EMC Corporation.

Technology

3PAR's core innovation was its massively parallel, clustered controller (computing) architecture, which provided exceptional fault tolerance and linear performance scaling. Its ASIC-powered hardware enabled advanced features like fine-grained thin provisioning, which eliminated stranded storage capacity, and real-time data deduplication within primary storage, significantly improving storage efficiency. The company's Common Provisioning Group software allowed for the creation of secure, multi-tenant environments on a single array, a critical capability for managed service providers and cloud computing platforms. These technologies were managed through its InForm operating system, which automated complex storage tasks and provided a unified management interface across its entire product line.

Products

The company's product family was centered on the InServ Storage Server, which ranged from the T-Class for mid-range enterprises to the more powerful F-Class and the flagship InServ S-Class systems for large-scale data centers. All systems ran the InForm operating system and supported major protocols including Fibre Channel, iSCSI, and later, Fibre Channel over Ethernet. Key software offerings included 3PAR Recovery Manager for integration with Oracle Database and Microsoft SQL Server, and 3PAR Adaptive Optimization for automated data tiering across solid-state drive and hard disk drive media. Its products were often sold through original equipment manufacturer agreements with companies like Hitachi Data Systems and NEC.

Acquisitions and partnerships

Throughout its independent operation, the company pursued a strategy of strategic alliances rather than large-scale acquisitions. Its foundational partnership with Sun Microsystems was crucial for early market credibility, leading to Sun reselling 3PAR systems under its own brand. Later, significant original equipment manufacturer deals were established with Hitachi Data Systems and NEC, expanding its global sales channels, particularly in the Japanese market. The company also fostered deep technology integrations with major virtualization platform vendors, most notably VMware, to optimize storage for virtual machine environments. These partnerships were essential in positioning its utility storage model as ideal for emerging infrastructure as a service offerings from providers like Savvis.

Market position and competition

3PAR carved out a strong niche in the high-end storage area network market, competing directly with established giants like EMC Corporation (with its Symmetrix and CLARiiON lines), IBM (DS8000), and Hitachi Data Systems (VSP). Its focus on storage efficiency and multi-tenancy gave it a distinct advantage in markets served by managed service providers and early cloud computing adopters. The 2010 bidding war between Hewlett-Packard and Dell underscored its perceived strategic value in the evolving data center landscape. Following its acquisition, the technology became a cornerstone of the HP 3PAR StoreServ storage family, continuing to compete in the consolidated market against NetApp, Dell EMC, and Pure Storage.

Category:Computer storage companies Category:Companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area Category:Companies listed on NASDAQ