Cisco Systems is acquiring Exablaze, a low-latency networking startup that could boost application performance in such areas as artificial intelligence/machine learning clusters, high frequency trading and high-performance computing (HPC), Cisco says. The deal is expected to close in Cisco’s Q3 of fiscal year 2020.
Exablaze, privately held and based in Australia, has reseller and distribution partnerships with multiple U.S.-based companies. Examples include CDW, Synnex and WWT. Moreover, Exablaze has offices in Sydney (Australia), New York (USA), London (UK) and Shanghai (China). Ahead of the Cisco deal, Exablaze positioned its networking gear for financial trading, big data analytics, high-performance computing, telecommunications and data center use cases.
Exablaze, also known as Zomojo, settled a patent dispute with Solarflare in May 2017. At the time, both parties withdrew from legal action and agreed not to raise further patent challenges. Also, Exablaze was granted a license to some Solarflare patents. Deeper terms of the settlement agreement were confidential.
The Exablaze-Cisco deal reinforces Cisco's continued commitment to networking hardware -- even as the company doubles down on software and SaaS-driven solutions for partners and customers.
