Fusion-io

Fusion-io, Inc. was a computer hardware and software systems company headquartered in Cottonwood Heights, Utah. It developed products that placed flash memory directly on the PCI Express bus, allowing servers to access high-performance solid-state storage without relying solely on conventional disk-based storage architectures. Its technology was marketed under the ioMemory name and was used in database systems, virtualization, cloud computing, big-data processing, and other applications requiring high input/output performance. The company began in Nevada in December 2005 as Canvas Technologies, founded by David Flynn and Rick White. It changed its name to Fusion Multisystems, Incorporated in June 2006 and later adopted the Fusion-io brand. Its early product, ioDrive, was demonstrated and announced in 2007. Unlike a conventional external storage array, the ioDrive was a PCIe card that brought substantial flash capacity and parallel access performance into the server itself. The approach helped establish Fusion-io as an important early supplier of enterprise PCIe solid-state storage. Fusion-io attracted substantial venture and strategic investment as it developed its technology. New Enterprise Associates led a $19 million Series A round in 2008, with Michael Dell among the investors. Lightspeed Venture Partners led a $47.5 million Series B round in 2009, and Samsung later invested in the company. A further $45 million financing round in 2010 was led by Meritech Capital Partners, with participation from Accel Partners and Andreessen Horowitz. The company also developed relationships with major systems vendors, including Hewlett-Packard and IBM, which adapted or licensed Fusion-io technology for server and appliance products. Its profile increased through prominent technical hires and customers. Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak joined as chief scientist in 2009, while Linux storage developers including Jens Axboe, Chris Mason, Josef Bacik, and Shaohua Li contributed to the company’s engineering work at different times. Facebook became a major customer, and Apple was also identified as an important source of revenue. The resulting customer concentration became a recurring concern as Fusion-io grew, although the company later reported that twelve customers each placed more than $1 million in orders during the second quarter of fiscal 2014. Fusion-io completed an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange in June 2011 under the symbol FIO. It expanded beyond PCIe flash cards through acquisitions and new software products. IO Turbine brought virtualization-aware flash-caching software; ID7 strengthened the company’s Linux software-defined-storage capabilities; and NexGen Storage added a hybrid storage platform that was renamed ioControl. Fusion-io also introduced ION Data Accelerator, initially as software and later as an appliance. The company experienced leadership changes in 2013 and 2014, including the departures of co-founder and chief executive David Flynn, co-founder and chief marketing officer Rick White, chief financial officer Dennis Wolff, and several prominent Linux developers. In June 2014, SanDisk announced an agreement to acquire Fusion-io for approximately $1.1 billion. The transaction closed in July 2014, ending Fusion-io’s independent existence. Its technology and product capabilities became part of SanDisk’s enterprise storage business, while the Fusion-io corporate brand was discontinued as an independent company.

Fusion-io was founded in December 2005 in Nevada as Canvas Technologies by David Flynn and Rick White. In June 2006, the company changed its name to Fusion Multisystems, Incorporated. It subsequently developed the Fusion-io identity around a new class of server-attached flash products. The company’s early strategy was to use PCI Express connectivity to place flash memory directly in servers, reducing the latency and software overhead associated with traditional storage arrangements. The ioDrive was demonstrated and announced in September 2007. The product became the foundation of the company’s ioMemory architecture, which combined flash hardware with software intended to make high-performance nonvolatile memory usable by enterprise applications. Fusion-io showed related software, including ioSAN, in 2008. Its technology attracted attention from server manufacturers: Hewlett-Packard adapted it for an IO Accelerator product for BladeSystem C-Series servers, while IBM used the technology in a PCIe adapter and announced plans to license it for an appliance. Funding and industry recognition supported the company’s expansion. New Enterprise Associates led a $19 million Series A round in March 2008, with Michael Dell also investing. Fusion-io received recognition from BusinessWeek and Red Herring in 2009, then raised $47.5 million in a Series B round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners. Samsung made a strategic investment later that year. In 2010, Meritech Capital Partners led another $45 million round with participation from Accel Partners and Andreessen Horowitz. The Wall Street Journal ranked Fusion-io as the second most promising information-technology company in March 2010. The company strengthened its technical profile through recruiting. Steve Wozniak became chief scientist in February 2009. Linux storage specialist Jens Axboe joined in May 2010, and Btrfs developers Chris Mason and Josef Bacik joined in 2012. Fusion-io engineers contributed to the development of a scalable multi-queue block layer for Linux. The work was merged into the mainline kernel in version 3.13, released in January 2014, and was intended to exploit the parallelism available in modern solid-state storage. Fusion-io also sponsored work converting parts of the Linux SCSI core to the blk-mq approach. Fusion-io filed for an IPO in March 2011 and listed on the New York Stock Exchange under FIO in June of that year. The company’s rapid growth was accompanied by concern about the extent of its dependence on Facebook and Apple. These customers were particularly important during the public-company period, although management stated during the second quarter of fiscal 2014 that twelve customers had each ordered more than $1 million during the quarter. From 2011 onward, Fusion-io broadened its portfolio through acquisitions. IO Turbine, acquired in August 2011, supplied ioTurbine hybrid-array software designed to cache data on flash and operate with virtualization environments such as VMware. Fusion-io introduced ION Data Accelerator in 2012 and converted it from a software offering into an appliance by February 2014. In March 2013, the company acquired ID7, a Linux software-defined-storage firm associated with the SCST generic SCSI target layer. In April 2013, it acquired NexGen Storage, whose n5 product combined hard disks and flash to deliver more consistent performance. Fusion-io renamed the product ioControl. The company went through significant personnel changes in 2013 and early 2014. Flynn and White departed in May 2013, CFO Dennis Wolff left in October, and Mason and Bacik left for Facebook in November. Axboe announced his departure in January 2014, also to join Facebook. In June 2014, SanDisk announced its intention to acquire Fusion-io for approximately $1.1 billion. The transaction closed in July 2014, after which Fusion-io no longer operated as an independent company. Its technology and products were absorbed into SanDisk’s enterprise storage activities.

• 2014

  SanDisk acquisition closes

  [1]Fusion-ioen.wikipedia.org

  SanDisk completed its acquisition of Fusion-io in July 2014.

• 2013

  ID7 and NexGen Storage acquisitions

  [1]Fusion-ioen.wikipedia.org

  The company expanded into software-defined and hybrid storage through two acquisitions.

• 2011

  Fusion-io goes public

  [1]Fusion-ioen.wikipedia.org

  The company completed its NYSE initial public offering under ticker FIO.

• 2011

  IO Turbine acquisition

  [1]Fusion-ioen.wikipedia.org

  Fusion-io acquired IO Turbine and added virtualization-aware flash-caching software.

• 2009

  Hewlett-Packard collaboration begins

  [1]Fusion-ioen.wikipedia.org

  Hewlett-Packard announced an IO Accelerator adaptation of Fusion-io technology.

• 2008

  Series A financing

  [1]Fusion-ioen.wikipedia.org

  New Enterprise Associates led a $19 million Series A funding round.

• 2007

  ioDrive is announced

  [1]Fusion-ioen.wikipedia.org

  Fusion-io demonstrated and announced its ioDrive PCIe flash-storage product.

• 2006

  Company changes name to Fusion Multisystems

  [1]Fusion-ioen.wikipedia.org

  Canvas Technologies adopted the name Fusion Multisystems, Incorporated in June 2006.

• 2005

  Canvas Technologies is founded

  [1]Fusion-ioen.wikipedia.org

  David Flynn and Rick White founded the company in Nevada in December 2005.

Fusion-io positioned itself as a provider of high-performance enterprise flash infrastructure. Its central proposition was to move storage closer to the server through PCIe-attached flash and supporting software, reducing latency and improving parallel input/output for demanding workloads.

• PCIe flash-storage accelerator · 2007

  ioDrive

  The ioDrive was Fusion-io’s foundational PCIe-attached flash product. It placed high-performance flash memory inside the server rather than presenting it as a conventional external storage array. The product was designed for demanding enterprise workloads such as databases, virtualization, cloud services, and large-scale data processing, and was regarded as one of the fastest storage devices available around 2011.

• Flash-storage architecture · 2007

  Fusion ioMemory

  ioMemory was the name Fusion-io used for its combined flash hardware and software architecture. It provided the underlying technology for products that exposed flash capacity and performance directly to server applications. The architecture supported workloads where low latency and high parallel input/output were more important than the characteristics of traditional disk-based storage.

• Flash-caching software

  ioTurbine

  ioTurbine was developed by IO Turbine and acquired by Fusion-io in 2011. It used flash as a cache layer in hybrid storage environments and was designed to understand virtualized workloads, particularly VMware environments. The acquisition expanded Fusion-io’s offering from PCIe flash hardware into software that coordinated flash acceleration with existing storage systems.

• Data-acceleration software and appliance · 2012

  ION Data Accelerator

  ION Data Accelerator was introduced as software that allowed organizations to use Fusion-io flash technology as a high-performance data layer. By February 2014, Fusion-io offered ION as an appliance rather than solely as software. The product targeted enterprise environments that needed shared or centralized access to flash acceleration.

• Hybrid storage appliance · 2013

  ioControl

  ioControl was the Fusion-io name for NexGen Storage’s n5 platform after the 2013 acquisition. It combined hard disk drives with flash memory and was intended to provide more consistent performance than disk-only systems. The product represented Fusion-io’s move into complete hybrid storage systems rather than individual server-attached flash cards.

• 2014

  Sale to SanDiskM&A

  Background

  Fusion-io was operating in a rapidly developing enterprise flash market but faced leadership changes and concerns about customer concentration.

  Action taken

  SanDisk announced and completed the acquisition of Fusion-io.

  Aftermath

  Fusion-io ceased to operate as an independent company and its technology became part of SanDisk’s enterprise storage business.

  Acquisition value. Approximately $1.1 billion (Announced June 2014; completed July 2014)

  Source

• 2013

  Acquisition of NexGen StorageM&A

  Background

  Fusion-io aimed to expand into hybrid storage systems combining flash and hard disk capacity.

  Action taken

  Fusion-io acquired NexGen Storage and renamed its n5 product ioControl.

  Aftermath

  The acquisition added a hybrid storage platform to the company’s enterprise portfolio.

  Acquisition consideration. $114 million cash plus $5 million in stock (April 2013)

  Source

• 2012

  ION Data Accelerator launchProduct launch

  Background

  Fusion-io sought to make its flash technology usable in broader data-storage deployments.

  Action taken

  The company introduced ION Data Accelerator as a software product and later offered it as an appliance.

  Aftermath

  The offering broadened Fusion-io’s scope beyond PCIe cards toward shared and appliance-based storage.

  Source

• 2011

  Initial public offeringOther

  Background

  Fusion-io sought public capital while expanding its enterprise flash-storage business.

  Action taken

  The company filed for an IPO in March and listed on the New York Stock Exchange in June under the symbol FIO.

  Aftermath

  Fusion-io became a publicly traded company, although its revenue concentration among large customers remained a concern.

  Source

• 2011

  Acquisition of IO TurbineM&A

  Background

  Fusion-io wanted to extend its flash offering into caching and virtualized storage environments.

  Action taken

  Fusion-io acquired IO Turbine, the developer of ioTurbine hybrid-array software.

  Aftermath

  The acquisition added virtualization-aware flash-caching capabilities to the Fusion-io portfolio.

  Acquisition consideration. $95 million (August 5, 2011)

  Source

• 2014

  SanDisk agrees to acquire Fusion-io[1]Fusion-ioen.wikipedia.org

  M&A

  SanDisk announced an agreement to purchase Fusion-io for approximately $1.1 billion.

• 2014

  SanDisk completes Fusion-io acquisition[1]Fusion-ioen.wikipedia.org

  M&A

  SanDisk completed the acquisition in July 2014, ending Fusion-io as an independent company.

• 2013

  Fusion-io acquires ID7[1]Fusion-ioen.wikipedia.org

  M&A

  The acquisition added Linux software-defined-storage expertise and the SCST generic SCSI target layer.

• 2013

  Fusion-io acquires NexGen Storage[1]Fusion-ioen.wikipedia.org

  M&A · Product generation

  Fusion-io acquired NexGen Storage and renamed its n5 hybrid platform ioControl.

• 2013

  Fusion-io founders leave the company[1]Fusion-ioen.wikipedia.org

  Leadership change

  Co-founder David Flynn and co-founder and chief marketing officer Rick White departed Fusion-io.

• 2013

  Fusion-io faces concern over customer concentration[1]Fusion-ioen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  Commentators criticized the company’s reliance on Facebook and Apple, although Fusion-io later reported substantial orders from a broader group of customers.

• 2012

  Fusion-io demonstrates one billion IOPS[1]Fusion-ioen.wikipedia.org

  Product generation · Other

  The company reported a demonstration of one billion input/output operations per second using eight servers at DEMO Enterprise.

• 2012

  Fusion-io introduces ION Data Accelerator[1]Fusion-ioen.wikipedia.org

  Product launch

  Fusion-io announced ION Data Accelerator software for using flash technology as a high-performance storage layer.

• 2011

  Fusion-io files for an initial public offering[1]Fusion-ioen.wikipedia.org

  Other

  Fusion-io filed to list shares on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol FIO.

• 2011

  Fusion-io completes its public offering[1]Fusion-ioen.wikipedia.org

  Other · Pricing

  The company offered shares on June 9, 2011, after increasing its proposed IPO pricing.

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1. 1Fusion-ioen.wikipedia.org