Broadcom aka Avago aka LSI announces SAS SATA NVMe Adapters with RAID

In case you missed it, #Broadcom formerly known as #Avago who bought the #LSI adapter and RAID card business announced shipping new SAS, SATA and #NVMe devices. While SAS and SATA are well established continuing to be deployed for both HDD as well as flash SSD, NVMe continues to evolve with a bright future. Likewise, while there is a focus on software-defined storage ( #SDS ), software defined data centers ( #SDDC ) and software defined data infrastructures ( #SDDI ) along with advanced parity RAID including erasure codes, object storage among other technologies, there is still a need for adapter cards including traditional RAID. Keep in mind that while probably not meeting the definition of some software-defined aficionados, the many different variations, permutations along with derivatives of RAID from mirror and replication to basic parity to advanced erasure codes (some based on Reed Solomon aka RAID 2) rely on software. Granted, some of that software is run on regular primary server processors, some on packaged in silicon via ASICs or FPGAs, or System on Chips (SOC), RAID on Chip (RoC) as well as BIOS, firmware, drivers as well as management tools.

http://news.sys-con.com/node/4071560

Consolidation In The Fibre Channel Industry

Ethernet has become the communication protocol of choice for much in-house as well as cloud storage. Ethernet is the basis for Network Attached Storage (NAS) storage file sharing capabilities and iSCSI-based Storage Area Networks (SANs). Hyperscale object storage is usually done over IP-based Ethernet Networks as well. With the growth of Ethernet-based storage networks why would Broadcom want to acquire the Fibre Channel assets of Brocade Communications and sell off its IP networking business? #Broadcom, formerly Singapore-based #Avago Technologies, before their purchase of the well know chip maker (Broadcom) serving enterprise as well as consumer markets, said that it will purchase network gear maker Brocade Communications for $5.5 B. The move is said to expand the companies fibre channel and data storage businesses. The acquisition is one of several recent acquisitions in the semiconductor industry and represents further consolidation in the important, but niche, Fibre Channel market.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/tomcoughlin/2016/11/09/consolidation-in-the-fibre-channel-industry/#2fb74264f46a

Newly Diversified Broadcom Gets "Wired" After Avago Merger

#Broadcom (AVGO) has a lot of different tentacles at this point, but the company's recent transformation seems to going along quite nicely. Earlier this year Avago Technologies completed its $37 billion acquisition of Broadcom. It's hard to find a more diversified chip name than Broadcom these days. The company now has a formidable presence in the wireless, wired, enterprise storage and industrial segments. Broadcom makes radios for cellphones and other consumer devices, plus chips used in networking equipment for data centers. Avago makes analog and mixed signal chips for automotive, communications and industrial applications. In late 2013, Avago made a bet on increased use of cloud and mobile software when it struck a deal to acquire #LSI Logic for $6.6 billion. The purchase gave #Avago a big presence in the networking and storage chip market.

http://www.investors.com/stock-lists/sector-leaders/newly-diversified-broadcom-gets-wired-after-avago-merger/

A $30 billion merger is more evidence of the tech market's most dominant trend right now

#AnalogDevices has struck a deal to buy chipmaker #LinearTechnology, the companies announced on Tuesday. The deal values Linear Technology at $14.8 billion, or $60 per share. The value of the combined enterprise will be $30 billion. Shares of Linear Technology were halted for trade up about 29% at $62 per share after news of the deal was broken by Bloomberg. Analog Devices shares were up about 4%. Stocks across the semiconductor space were broadly higher on Tuesday, with notable gainers including Maxim Integrated (+5%), NXP Semiconductors (+4%), Microsemi (+4%), and Semtech (+3%). Texas Instruments, one of the closest competitors to a combined Analog-Linear, also jumped, with shares up more than 9%. On Monday, after the market closed, Texas Instruments reported earnings that beat expectations. There has been a frenzy of multibillion-dollar deals in the tech industry over the past 18 months, including #Intel 's takeover of #Altera, #Avago 's acquisition of #Broadcom, and #Dell 's $67 billion takeover of #EMC. More recently, Dutch chip-making company #ASML bought Taiwan's Hermes #Microvision for $3.1 billion, and #NXPSemiconductors sold its standard-products business to a group of Chinese investors for $2.75 billion.

http://www.businessinsider.com/linear-technology-analog-devices-merger-talks-2016-7

Cavium pays $1 billion for QLogic, storage

After months of shopping itself, storage networking vendor #QLogic has a buyer. #Cavium pays $1 billion

Networking semiconductor vendor Wednesday said it will pay $1 billion for the FC and Ethernet adapter company in a deal expected to close in the third quarter of 2016. The deal adds to the evidence that storage networking is a best fit as part of a larger Ethernet-dominated networking company.

#Cisco kicked off the trend of combining networking and storage when the Ethernet giant stared selling Fibre Channel SAN switchesin 2003. The FC connectivity market has seen a great deal of consolidation since then, with FC vendors either going away or joining forces with Ethernet companies.

#Avago Technologies acquired QLogic rival #Emulex for $606 million in 2015. That deal was sandwiched between Avago’s purchases of storage and networking chip firm #LSI and networking connectivity vendor Broadcom.

http://searchstorage.techtarget.com/blog/Storage-Soup/Cavium-pays-1-billion-for-QLogic-storage