Stratus Technologies

Stratus Technologies. It is a global provider of fault-tolerant computing solutions, specializing in continuous availability for critical IT infrastructure. The company's systems are engineered to eliminate single points of failure and are deployed in sectors like financial services, manufacturing, and public safety. Its evolution from a pioneering hardware manufacturer to a provider of virtualization and cloud computing platforms reflects major shifts in the enterprise computing landscape.

History

The company was founded in 1980 as Stratus Computer, Inc. by William Foster and John H. F. Miner, with early backing from General Electric and later Kleiner Perkins. Its initial VAX-compatible minicomputer systems introduced a novel hardware-based approach to fault tolerance. A significant early partnership with IBM in 1993 led to the reselling of its systems as the IBM System/88. After being acquired by Ascend Communications in 1998, it was spun out in 1999 and renamed. In 2022, the company was acquired by the private equity firm Siris Capital Group, marking its transition from a public entity under previous ownership by Samsung Electronics.

Products and services

Core offerings include the ftServer series, which are x86-based servers utilizing proprietary lockstep technology. The everRun software provides high availability and disaster recovery for Microsoft Windows and Linux environments on commodity hardware. Its z Systems solutions deliver continuous availability for IBM Z mainframe workloads. The company also provides Stratus Redundant Linux, a hardened operating system, and managed services for remote monitoring through its Stratus Global Services division. These products are often deployed for edge computing applications in industrial automation.

Technology and architecture

The foundational technology is a hardware-centric fault-tolerant architecture where redundant components operate in synchronized lockstep, enabling instantaneous failover without data loss. This differs from clustering solutions that involve recovery time. Key innovations include the proprietary VOS operating system for its original systems and the CP3000 technology used in later ftServer models. The evolution towards software-defined solutions, such as everRun, allows its availability principles to be applied within virtual machines on platforms like VMware vSphere and for Kubernetes containers.

Market and competition

It primarily operates in the niche but critical market for high availability and fault-tolerant computing. Key verticals include banking for ATM networks, stock exchange trading floors, telecommunications for 5G core networks, and healthcare for electronic health record systems. Major competitors have included Hewlett Packard Enterprise with its NonStop servers, Unisys with its ClearPath systems, and software-based players like Veeam Software and Dell EMC in the broader business continuity market.

Corporate affairs

The company is headquartered in Maynard, Massachusetts, within the historic Maynard Mill. It maintains research and development facilities and sales offices globally. Over its history, it has been publicly traded on the NASDAQ under the symbol "STRA" and was later taken private. Its acquisition by Siris Capital Group positioned it for further investment in edge computing platforms. The company holds numerous patents related to fault-tolerant computing and data integrity.

Category:Computer hardware companies of the United States Category:Companies based in Middlesex County, Massachusetts Category:Fault-tolerant computer systems