Riverbed Jumps Into Data Storage

Paul Korzeniowski, September 15, 2008, 4:30 PM

Riverbed no longer wants to be viewed as only a WAN optimization appliance supplier. The companys desire for expansion is prompting it to move into data storage and data de-duplication, a change that is filled with great risks and great rewards.

Riverbed has been one of the industry’s hottest suppliers. The company has 4,500 customers who have deployed 50,000 of its systems. In 2007, the corporation’s revenue reached $236.4 million, a 162 percent increase from $90.2 million in the prior year -- and it was the vendor’s first profitable year. As a reward, Wall Street demanded that the firm find ways to maintain its skyrocketing growth.

That search led Riverbed into the storage market. Riverbed now plans to deliver Atlas, a de-duplication system, in the first half of 2009. Initially, the product will work with Microsoft Windows data and eventually will be enhanced to support Unix and structured information as well. Outside of those broad parameters, the company is offering little in the way of capabilities, features, pricing, and availability of the new product line.

A synergy between its WAN optimization techniques and corporations’ rising storage requirements was the reason for this move. “By using our data de-duplication techniques, companies can cut their storage requirements by as much as 90 percent,” claims Alan Saldich, Riverbed's vice president of product marketing and alliances. The vendor thinks that its approach is more efficient than the file- or block-based de-duplication techniques that storage suppliers have relied on.How much users can cut from their storage requirements by using Atlas will depend on the type of applications they're running. If the information is fairly consistent as it moves from user to user, say a CAD/CAM drawing, then the savings will be significant. If there is little common information, say a video news feed, then the reductions will be minimal.

As it moves into the storage market, Riverbed will face some challenges. Atlas is a proprietary system, one that requires that an organization deploy the vendor's Steelhead WAN optimization products. While that technique may appeal to existing Riverbed customers, it is unclear whether the potential benefits of Riverbed’s approach will attract new customers

Another challenge will be targeting the right customer base. Riverbed started out in the networking market, but is now moving squarely into the data center. “We have found that our customers now come from different groups, such as IT, networking, or the data center, depending on the size and makeup of the organization,” says Saldich.

In addition, the vendor may be spreading itself too thin. In May, Riverbed ventured into the management space via agreements with a raft of vendors, including Opsware, Compuware, NetScout, and Opnet, that enable third-party software to collect and compile information from Riverbed’s Steelhead WAN optimization appliances. In February, the vendor revamped its RiOS Services Platform, trying to make it more a software development platform than a simple network appliance. Now, it is forging into the storage market, so a great deal of diversification has been undertaken by the mid-tier supplier.

Riverbed has been one of the industry’s success stories. The company would like to add a few more chapters to its tale, but it is not clear whether its de-duplication will have a fairy tale or a tragic ending.Paul Korzeniowski is a freelance writer who specializes in data storage issues. He is based in Sudbury, Mass. and can be reached at [email protected].

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