SGI tears up couch to buy Linux Networx assets

Cluster fluster

By Ashlee Vance in Mountain View • Get more from this author

Posted in Servers, 15th February 2008 00:27 GMT

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With a bankruptcy behind it, SGI has decided to go ahead and start expanding again by purchasing Linux Networx's "core assets."

What's that Scott McNealy joke about two garbage trucks colliding?

We jest, we jest. Linux Networx actually makes some of the cooler high performance computing systems. You get well-packaged hardware and a lot of pre-configured software to run a number of popular HPC applications.

Ultimately, however, Linux Networx does battle in a very competitive market and faces increasing pressure from the large server vendors that place more and more emphasis on clusters and HPC wins.

SGI has acquired Linux Networkx software, patents and technology in exchange for SGI stock. Cough. The key patents cover cluster design, performance, power and cooling. "SGI will also add key personnel and expertise in the areas of software design, system optimization, application performance tuning and cluster management,"the company said.

"We're in a position to acquire key technology and expertise to further power our growth," said SGI CEO Bo Ewald. "This represents the first of such key technology acquisitions and will help further the development of our software environment and support for our clustered systems."

Ewald used to run Linux Networx - funny enough.

Along with the acquisition, SGI revealed that Oak Investment Partners and Lehman Brothers have blessed it with investments of undisclosed size.

SGI announced its second quarter financial results earlier this month, reporting a drop in revenue to $90m from $108m in the same period last year. ®

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