Caspian Networks, a one-time core router startup that today makes devices to improve network performance, is on the block.
The San Jose, California, company is considering a possible acquisition deal, said Tom Gibson, a spokesman for Morgenthaler Ventures, an investor in Caspian. He declined to give more details and Caspian President and Chief Executive Officer Brad Wurtz could not be reached for comment.
Early in this decade, Caspian said it was building a massive IP (Internet Protocol) routing switch that could be expanded through using multiple linked hardware platforms with distributed software. It would segment traffic into separate "flows" that would receive different treatment, allowing for guaranteed quality of service.
But the platform didn't gain much traction with carriers, and like other big carrier-gear vendors, Caspian hit hard times when the telecommunications bubble burst. A news report Thursday said the company had shut down.
Caspian was richly funded by venture investors and pulled in $55 million in a funding round as recently as last year. Among the founders of Caspian was Internet pioneer Lawrence Roberts, who made dire predictions while at the helm of the company about Internet traffic growing far faster than the capacity of core routers, which are computers that transfer extremely large volumes of traffic on the Internet. Roberts has since left the company.
Today, Caspian sells two Media Controller devices designed to let enterprises and service providers enforce quality of service policies. They also let carriers allocate bandwidth to users based on how much they pay, according to the company's Web site. Earlier this year it announced customer deals with Chunghwa Telecom Co. of Taiwan and China United Telecommunications.
Get the independent advice and expertise you need to support a virtual workforce.
The increase in Linux popularity has increased the frequency and sophistication of malware attacks. Read this 2 page white paper now to learn how you can protect your Linux environment with real-time protection that is certified by all major Linux vendors.
Download now »
Ensuring acceptable application delivery will become even more difficult over the next few years. As a result, IT organizations need to ensure that the approach that they take to resolving the current application delivery challenges can scale to support the emerging challenges. This handbook elaborates on the key tasks associated with planning, optimization, management and control and provides decision criteria to help IT organizations choose appropriate solutions.
Download now »
A common misconception is that mid-range storage requirements are dramatically different than that of a larger enterprise. Mid-range storage users may require less capacity, but they have similar functionality and management requirements. This ESG paper examines mid-range storage needs and reviews a new solution that adjusts size while retaining value, performance and functionality.
Download now »
Sign up to receive Networking Resource Alerts
1 Recommendation
