DiskSites

About DiskSites

DiskSites Inc. operated in the IT consulting and outsourcing sector, providing a specialized application for information technology companies. The firm focused on delivering wide area file services (WAFS) tailored for organizations with multiple locations, such as Fortune 2000 companies, governmental agencies, and educational institutions. The core of its business was to enable the consolidation of IT resources from remote branch offices back to a central data center, thereby aiming to lower the total cost of IT ownership for its clients.

The company's primary offering, which became available in October 2004, was a storage solution designed to create serverless branch offices. This was accomplished through a combination of hardware appliances and software. The 'FilePort' appliance was installed in the main data center, while 'FileCache' appliances were placed in the remote offices. This setup allowed enterprises to centralize their data, while still providing workers in branch locations with efficient access. The business model involved selling this solution either as a software package or as pre-configured appliances.

A key differentiator of the DiskSites solution was its breadth of services beyond simple file access. The system also managed essential network functions like print services, DNS (Domain Name System), DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol), and acted as a Backup Domain Controller (BDC). This multi-functionality allowed IT managers to administer a range of services remotely through a web-based interface, eliminating the need for dedicated servers and storage management hardware at each branch office. The technology specifically optimized CIFS and NFS file service protocols over long-distance WAN links. The company was eventually acquired by Expand Networks Inc.