Sanrad Scores $10 Million

IP SAN switch startup Sanrad picked up $10 million in D-round funding today, which it plans to parlay into 10-Gbit/s Ethernet sales within the next year.

Sanrad's total funding is now $28 million. The influx should help the company's survival as it plays in two segments that have been harsh on startups -- switches and iSCSI.

Sanrad claims more than 500 customers and 700 installations for its multiprotocol appliances. (See Sanrad Offers iSCSI Switch.) Sanrad switches let users connect direct-attached servers to Fibre Channel arrays and run services such as snapshot, replication, and provisioning. (See Sanrad Intros Replication Solution.)

Until recently, Sanrad was positioned as a low-cost alternative to larger multiprotocol routers from Brocade, Cisco, and McData, but HBA vendors QLogic and Emulex have recently shipped lower cost iSCSI-to-Fibre Channel appliances. (See and Emulex Unveils iSCSI, FCIP Gear.)

Sanrad's last product was aimed at moving up into the enterprise. It launched the V-Switch 38000 with eight Fibre Channel and three iSCSI ports in February. (See Sanrad Eyes Enterprise.) Sanrad also landed an OEM deal with Brocade for its four-port V-Switch 2000 in March. (See Brocade Bulks Up 4-Gig Gear.) Sanrad spokespeople say Brocade should be adding more products to that relationship.With the new funding, the focus will be on 10-Gbit/s Ethernet, however. Dave DuPont, Sanrad's VP of business development, is hoping Sanrad's V-Switch will be lucrative to companies looking to turn their direct-attached storage into SANs as 10-Gbit/s Ethernet becomes more prevalent.

"We have to be ready with products for 10-Gigabit Ethernet," DuPont says. "We're focused on environments where Fibre Channel traditionally hasn't played, such as enterprise servers. That's our market opportunity -- a little less mission critical, a little less high-performance oriented."

At least one analyst says, in addition to 10-Gbit/s Ethernet support, Sanrad needs to distinguish itself by enhancing its software functionality.

"They've survived a few rounds; they have a proven product and an OEM deal," analyst Greg Schulz of the StorageIO Group says of Sanrad. "They're still in the game as an iSCSI switch, and they can do replication and virtualization. But they're getting competition from QLogic and Emulex, and I'm not sure that market is big enough to support a lot of vendors."

Sanrad's DuPont agrees. He says Sanrad also plans to make its switches easier to use and manage in coming releases. "I don't see any competitors that have our storage management feature set today, but I would be foolish to say there won't be others."DuPont expects the 80-person company to grow by about 20 percent this year, mostly in sales.

Foundation Capital led the round, with previous Sanrad investors RAD Group and Sequoia Capital participating. Foundation's Ashmeet Sidana joins Sanrand's board.

Dave Raffo, News Editor, Byte and Switch

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