In the past... each individual NAS device and file server has been separately managed, Terlizzi says. Were coming out with a new class of product -- which were calling a file switch -- that effectively will allow us to manage the growth of that data [more effectively].
Terlizzi sounds positively modest compared with the companys Website, which claims the patent-pending technology will enable NAS environments to transfer file data at terabit wire speeds and also boasts that it will provide unlimited, easy-to-manage scalability at a low cost. Sounds terrific, no?
Based on that sketchy product description, Z-forces positioning sounds like its in the same ballpark as other storage switch startups like 3ware Inc. (see 3ware Loses Its Head) and Pirus Networks (see Pirus Attains $9.5 Million Additional Funding). Another potential competitor is Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO), which is prepping a new iSCSI (SCSI over IP) router (see Cisco Spills Beans on Next SAN Router).
Z-forces founders are Johnson, previously president and CEO of S3 Inc., a PC graphics board manufacturer that has since changed its name to SonicBlue Inc., and three former executives of Object Dynamics Corp., a now-defunct software engineering firm that was folded into Z-force.
Vladimir Miloushev, Z-forces president and CEO, held the same titles at Object Dynamics; Z-force CTO Peter Nickolov was Object Dynamics VP of engineering; and CFO Krasimira Nikolova was Object Dynamics VP of finance. That troika had previously founded the System Research Laboratory, a software shop in Sofia, Bulgaria.