Ocarina Networks

About Ocarina Networks

Ocarina Networks was a technology firm that provided a hardware and software solution for data storage optimization, which was established in 2006. The company was founded by Murli Thirumale, who previously served as a vice-president and general manager at Citrix Systems; Carter George, a co-founder and former vice-president of PolyServe; and Goutham Rao, who was the Chief Technical Officer and Chief Architect for Advanced Solutions Group at Citrix Systems. Thirumale, a serial entrepreneur, had prior success with a company acquired by Citrix before co-founding Ocarina. Carter George brought experience from PolyServe, which was acquired by HP.

The core of Ocarina's business was to help clients reduce their data storage needs and associated costs by using sophisticated data compression and deduplication techniques. They targeted the enterprise storage market, addressing the challenge of managing massive data growth. The business model centered on selling a combined hardware and software product. Their flagship offering was the Ocarina Optimizer/Reader system, first released in April 2008. This system comprised the Ocarina Optimizer, a hardware appliance, and the Ocarina Reader, a software-based decompressor. The technology, branded as the 'ECOsystem' (Extract, Correlate, Optimize), was distinctive because it was content-aware, applying specific, highly effective compression algorithms tailored to over 600 different file formats, including images, text, and other unstructured data. This allowed it to achieve significant data reduction even on files that were already compressed, a notable advantage over competing technologies.

Ocarina's solution was designed to integrate with existing storage systems through standard network protocols, effectively creating more free space on a client's current hardware. This approach positioned them as a provider of efficiency rather than a seller of new storage capacity. The company secured approximately $28 to $30 million in funding across two rounds from investors including Highland Capital Partners, Kleiner Perkins, and others. In a significant milestone, Dell announced its acquisition of Ocarina Networks on July 19, 2010, and the deal was finalized on July 31, 2010. Dell was motivated to acquire Ocarina to integrate its advanced deduplication and compression technology into its own storage offerings, particularly the EqualLogic line, to better compete in the data management space. Following the acquisition, the Ocarina team was focused on integrating their technology into Dell's product portfolio, leading to the launch of Dell's DR-family of deduplication appliances and its integration into the Dell Fluid File System.