B&S Top Ten Reloaded

It's hazy, hot, and humid stickier than a jam jar full of angry bees. Yes, we're talking about the Byte and Switch Top Ten Private Companies list, making a summer appearance and wooshing up a gentle breeze over the sweat-stained storage networking industry.

To recap: The Top Ten list is based exclusively on our evaluation of the market and the prospects for each company's long-term success. To be considered, companies must be privately held, have shipping products, and demonstrate the existence of revenue-producing customers. Bonus points are given to startups that do not have foosball or ping-pong tables on the premises; points are deducted from those with humorless, pinch-faced executives (see our previous list, Top Ten Private Companies: Spring 2003).

Here are the highlights of the summer's reloaded Top Ten list – iced down, oiled up, and sun-kissed for your beach-reading pleasure:

Before we proceed, we should remind readers that, unfortunately, there is room for only ten companies here. This isn't a Top 5,000 list, amigos. Keep in mind that just because your company missed the cut doesn't mean we don't like its chances. And by all means, throw your own picks and pans onto our message boards (but please clean up after yourself).

For a writeup on each company, click on its name below:

Table 1: Top Ten Private Storage Networking Companies

— The Editors, Byte and Switch