Data via light and mirrors: Microsoft testing Lightfleet tech |
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Data via light and mirrors: Microsoft testing Lightfleet tech
A component of the Lightfleet system
Lightfleet Corp., a small company based in Camas, Wash., announced today that it has sold its first commercial alpha Direct Broadcast Optical Interconnect (DBOI) system to Microsoft Research.
The company says the system uses "broadcast light" and mirrors to change the way computing nodes work in data centers, all but eliminating the need for cables and switches.
The company says the blade-based system was sold to Microsoft Research's eXtreme Computing Group, which is explore the possibilities for the technology in cloud-computing facilities. We've put an inquiry in to Microsoft Research to find out more about its specific plans for the system, if it has any. Microsoft launched its Azure cloud-computing system in competition with Google, Amazon and others last year.
A Lightfleet representative says the company has been in business since 2003, subsisting on a total of $30 million in angel funding.
CNet News.com's Ina Fried explains how the Lightfleet's Microsoft deal happened: "Some folks on Wall Street had heard about Lightfleet's technology and were interested in seeing it for themselves. Microsoft got wind of it and asked the company to stop by its New York offices while they were in town. Pretty soon, the colossus of Redmond was Lightfleet's first customer."
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