Skyera

Based in San Jose, California, Skyera, Inc. was a developer of enterprise-grade solid-state storage systems tailored for scale-out cloud and enterprise data centers. The company was founded in 2010 by Dr. Radoslav Danilak and Rod Mullendore, both of whom brought extensive experience from the storage and networking sectors. Danilak, who initially served as CEO, was previously a founder and the chief technology officer of SandForce, a flash controller company acquired by LSI. Mullendore, the chief architect, had a background that included roles at Brocade and as a co-founder of Nishan Systems.

Skyera focused on creating high-performance, high-density, all-flash storage arrays. Its business model centered on providing these hardware systems to enterprises and cloud service providers looking to manage large volumes of data with high velocity and variety. The company's key value proposition was delivering storage solutions at a significantly lower cost and power consumption compared to traditional enterprise systems. A notable product was the Skyhawk all-flash array, which utilized consumer-grade MLC NAND flash and proprietary controller technology to extend the endurance of the memory to five years for enterprise use. This system offered features like inline deduplication, compression, snapshots, and clones within a compact 1U rack enclosure.

The company's journey included significant financial backing and strategic partnerships. In 2013, Skyera announced it had raised $51.6 million in funding, with Dell Ventures and Western Digital Capital as key investors. This capital was aimed at ramping up production and research for its Skyhawk arrays. In August 2014, Frankie Roohparvar, a veteran of the flash memory industry, was appointed CEO, with Danilak transitioning to the role of Chief Technology Officer. Ultimately, after a long-term strategic partnership, Skyera was acquired in an all-cash transaction by HGST, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Western Digital, on December 15, 2014. The acquisition was intended to augment HGST's solid-state storage portfolio with Skyera's engineering talent and intellectual property.

Keywords: all-flash array, enterprise storage, solid-state storage, data center solutions, cloud storage infrastructure, flash memory controller, NAND flash, storage virtualization, data deduplication, high-density storage, Skyhawk, HGST acquisition, Radoslav Danilak, Rod Mullendore, Dell Ventures, Western Digital, scale-out storage, low-latency storage, storage networking, enterprise SSD