Actona Technologies

About Actona Technologies

Actona Technologies, Inc. was a developer of wide-area file services software that streamlined data management for companies with geographically dispersed offices. The company was founded in 2000 by Professor Israel Cidon, who also served as the Chief Scientist. Other key figures included Dr. Ilan Kessler as COO and Dr. Israel Ben-Shaul as CTO. The company initially focused on internet caching solutions but pivoted in 2002 towards data storage solutions, a move that saved it from the brink of closure.

Actona's core technology provided users in enterprise branch offices with LAN-speed access to centrally located and managed global file systems. This allowed businesses to consolidate their servers and storage, centralizing processes like data backup and disaster recovery, which were traditionally complex and expensive to manage in distributed environments. The product suite included the ActoStor CoreServer for central data centers and ActoStor EdgeServers for branch offices, which presented a cached view of the centralized storage. This architecture optimized file transfer and access over a Wide Area Network (WAN).

In March 2004, Actona secured $10 million in a Series C funding round from investors including Evergreen Venture Partners, TLV Partners, and Aviv Venture Capital. Shortly after, on June 29, 2004, Cisco Systems announced a definitive agreement to acquire Actona for approximately $82 million in cash. At the time of the acquisition, Actona had 48 employees located in Los Gatos, California, and Haifa, Israel. The acquisition was part of Cisco's strategy to enhance its Full-Service Branch solutions by integrating Actona's technology into its branch office access router portfolio.