IBM has announced a definitive agreement to acquire Emeryville, CA-based Aspera, Inc. Aspera’s technology would help companies securely speed the movement of massive data files around the world. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Aspera moves Big Data to, from and within the cloud faster than traditional methods while providing security, bandwidth control and predictability. Licensed to clients and partners either in the cloud or on premise, Aspera’s high-speed transfer technology would reduce transmission times for large files or data sets by up to 99.9 percent – potentially cutting a 26 hour transfer of a 24 gigabyte file, sent halfway around the world, down to just 30 seconds.
Aspera’s fasp technology
Aspera addresses big data issues through its patented fasp technology which overcomes inherent bottlenecks in broadband wide area networks that slow the transfer of extremely large files, such as high-definition video or scientific research files, over distance. Its fasp technology is licensed to many cloud computing service providers and will be integrated with IBM’s recently acquired SoftLayer cloud infrastructure later next year.
By combining Aspera with the power of cloud computing, customers have a practical way to transport big data files to and from the cloud. Aspera would make cloud computing even faster, more predictable and more cost effective for big data transfers such as enterprise storage backup, sharing virtual images or bursting to the cloud for increased computing capacity.
Data transfer issues
The solutions provided by Aspera would solve data transfer problems across numerous industries and scenarios such as:
- Life sciences organizations sharing genomic data in the quest to find the next medical breakthrough.
- Media companies shortening production cycles or uploading hit television shows and blockbuster movies to popular consumer streaming services.
- Gaming companies receiving the latest software build from third party developers to enable rapid game development.
- Any individual within an enterprise trying to share and synchronize large files over distance between multiple devices such as a laptop, mobile phone or tablet.
The acquisition of Aspera is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the first quarter 2014.
