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American computer storage company From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Adaptec, Inc., was a computer storage company and remains a brand for computer storage products. The company was an independent firm from 1981 to 2010, at which point it was acquired by PMC-Sierra, which itself was later acquired by Microsemi, which itself was later acquired by Microchip Technology.
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Adaptec HQ | |
Company type | Public |
---|---|
Nasdaq: ADPT[1] | |
Industry | Computer storage |
Founded | 1981 |
Founder | Larry Boucher |
Defunct | June 8, 2010 |
Fate | Acquired by PMC-Sierra |
Headquarters | , |
Products | RAID, host adapter |
Larry Boucher, Wayne Higashi, and Bernard Nieman founded Adaptec in 1981.[2] At first, Adaptec focused on devices with Parallel SCSI interfaces. Popular host bus adapters included the 154x/15xx ISA family, the 2940 PCI family, and the 29160/-320 family. Their cross-platform ASPI was an early API for accessing and integrating non-disk devices like tape drives, scanners and optical disks. With advancements in technology, RAID functions were added while interfaces evolved to PCIe and SAS.
Adaptec made a number of acquisitions in the 1990s to expand their reach in the SCSI peripheral market. In March 1993, they acquired Trantor Systems Ltd. of Fremont, California, for $10 million.[3] In July 1995, they acquired Future Domain Corporation of Irvine, California, for $25 million.[4] In 1999, they acquired Distributed Processing Technology for $236 million.[5][6]
On May 10, 2010, PMC-Sierra, Inc. and Adaptec, Inc. announced they had entered into a definitive agreement of PMC-Sierra acquiring Adaptec's channel storage business on May 8, 2010, which included Adaptec's RAID storage product line, the Adaptec brand, a global value added reseller customer base, board logistics capabilities, and SSD cache performance solutions.[7] The transaction was expected to close in approximately 30 days, subject to customary closing conditions.[8] Following the sale, Adaptec would retain its Aristos ASIC technology business, certain real estate assets, more than 200 patents, and approximately $400 million in cash and marketable securities.[9][10]
On June 8, 2010, PMC-Sierra and Adaptec announced the completion of the acquisition.[11][12] PMC-Sierra renamed the channel storage business "Adaptec by PMC". PMC-Sierra was in turn acquired by Microsemi in January 2016.[13]
The old Adaptec, Inc. changed its name to ADPT Corporation,[14] and then again to Steel Excel, Inc.[15] Steel Excel is now an investment firm.
Adaptec produced interface products involving SCSI, USB, IEEE 1394 (Firewire), iSCSI, Fibre Channel, and video.[16] Adaptec once produced CD- and DVD-burning software under the brand names of Easy CD Creator and Toast, as well as network-attached storage devices such as the Snap Server product line.
The Adaptec brand is used to sell host bus adapters, RAID adapters, SAS expander cards, cables, and accessories.[17]
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