SAN JOSE, Calif., Oct 03 -- Xsigo Systems, Inc., the leader in virtualized data center infrastructure, today announced that Bitbrains IT Services, a leading provider of cloud services and the first VMware vCloud Powered provider in the Netherlands, has deployed an open systems-based hardware platform that includes Xsigo virtual I/O to optimize Oracle database performance. Compared with the Oracle Exadata hardware platform, the Xsigo-based platform provides substantial savings on the solution cost while delivering performance close to that of Exadata when running Oracle software.

"At Bitbrains IT Services, our fast, cost-effective cloud services running Oracle and other databases are a large part of the value we offer to our customers. Thus our hardware platform has to deliver the highest possible performance and availability," said Gjalt van Rutten, CTO of Bitbrains. "With Xsigo virtual I/O, we built a performance-optimized solution tailored for demanding workloads. With this platform, we can now offer our customers the fastest possible service at less cost than our competitors who employ expensive proprietary gear."

The Bitbrains IT Services platform employs Xsigo VP780 I/O Directors, Dell M610 blade servers, Dell Equallogic SSD and specialized in-house developed Flash Cache accelerated Solaris Express-based IB connected storage. The Xsigo I/O Directors' InfiniBand fabric delivers up to 40Gb of bandwidth to each server to eliminate performance-robbing I/O bottlenecks, and incurs less than half the latency of Ethernet alternatives to accelerate time-critical server-to-server communications. Also, the Xsigo fabric reduces by 50 percent the CPU load related to cluster communication by enabling the use of Reliable Datagram Sockets (RDS) for communication between Oracle RAC cluster nodes.

"We've proven the performance and reliability of the Xsigo virtual I/O solution, providing Oracle database services as well as High Performance Computing (HPC) services to some of the world's largest financial firms," van Rutten continued. "Our customers are universally amazed by the speed and value that Bitbrains delivers, and Xsigo virtual I/O contributes tremendously to those capabilities. To now offer our customers the performance of Oracle's flagship Exadata solution at a fraction of the cost is simply incredible."

Benefits of the Bitbrains service as compared with traditional IT infrastructure include:

--  Capacity on demand: Customers can quickly add capacity to meet changing business equirements
--  Performance on demand: Customers can accommodate peak workloads without having to build in wasteful excess capacity
--  No capital investment: Customers pay only for the services used
        
"Bitbrains excels at offering their customers incredibly fast, efficient cloud and database services, so Oracle performance is absolutely essential to them," said Mark Hardy, director of EMEA for Xsigo. "We are thrilled that Bitbrains capitalized on Xsigo's performance and feature set to offer best-of-breed Oracle capabilities at an industry-beating cost."

About Bitbrains IT Services

Bitbrains IT Services designs, builds and supports leading edge Cloud Computing solutions for companies that require a high level of continuity, reliability and scalability of their complex and business critical applications. Bitbrains provides Managed Hosting and Extreme Engineering services and is specialized in applying High Performance Computing concepts to, for instance, Solvency II and Basel III. Combining unique knowledge and experience, supported by its state of the art cloud computing platform, Bitbrains paves the way for new opportunities and applications. Bitbrains IT Services was founded in 2005, is based in Amstelveen, the Netherlands and has over 30 passionate and qualified employees. For more information, visit www.bitbrains.com.

About Xsigo Systems

Xsigo Systems, Inc. is the leader in virtualized data center infrastructure, helping enterprise customers reduce costs and improve business agility. Based on patented and award-winning technology, Xsigo offers a complete family of infrastructure virtualization products, including the Xsigo I/O Director and the Xsigo Server Fabric. Xsigo has hundreds of customers, partners and resellers around the globe and services multiple industries including financial, education, government, entertainment, technology and telecommunications. The privately held company, founded in 2004 and based in San Jose, Calif., is funded by Kleiner Perkins, Khosla Ventures, Greylock Partners and North Bridge Venture Partners. For more information, visit www.xsigo.com.

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Source: Xsigo Systems, Inc.