(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) -- Oracle (www.oracle.com) announced on Wednesday it has purchased server virtualization software provider Virtual Iron (www.virtualiron.com) for an undisclosed amount, positioning the database giant as a serious contendor in the data center and cloud computing sectors.
Last month, Oracle announced it entered into a definitive agreement with Sun to acquire the virtualization provider for approximately $7.4 billion.
The acquisition, which has been rumoured for several months, arms Oracle with a portfolio of open-source virtualization tools and virtualization management software.
The purchase of Virtual Iron gives Oracle a key tool to help companies who are either building data farms or hosting their data offsite and accessing it on a pay-per- usage basis.
With just 1 percent of the virtualization market, according to Jefferies & Co., there is no doubt that Virtual Iron is considered a small player.
Though Virtual Iron's products are designed for small and medium-sized businesses - a different customer base than Oracle's - the software firm's technology will likely be adapted by Oracle for its larger customers.
Oracle is mainly interested in Virtual Iron's CPU and storage capacity management and power management, which Citrix and VMware have both focused on in their most recently released hypervisor stacks.
Oracle said in a statement that until the transaction closes, Virtual Iron will operate separately.
The database giant also said in a presentation posted on its website that it is currently reviewing Virtual Iron's product roadmap, and will guide its customers on product roadmaps as well as any changes in features or timing following the deal, which is expected to close this summer.
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