Xsigo launches — joins rush to virtualize the data center

Xsigo Systems,  after three years of secrecy, has launched saying it can dramatically lower the cost of running data centers by using virtualization techniques, has finally launched.

The Sunnyvale, Calif. company, backed by venture firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers (see our coverage last year), uses techniques similar to the popular VMWare. While VMWare enables a single computer to run multiple operating systems, Xsigo focuses on another problem: Reducing the multiple connections between servers and networks into a single connection. The company launched earlier this week, and the Mercury News has a story today.

The company, started by former Juniper engineers, also has backing from Greylock Partners and Khosla Ventures. The amount was undisclosed. The company has also recruited Steven Haley, a top sales guy from Cisco, to be its chief operating officer.

Cisco has invested $50 million into Nuova Systems, considered a competitor. Cisco also says it has a product called the Vframe Data Center that solves the problem in a different way — without virtualization. Meanwhile, Intel is backing another competitor, 3Leaf Systems, which launched in May with $32 million in backing (see our coverage)

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