HPE 3PAR

HPE 3PAR is an enterprise storage brand whose technology originated with 3PAR Inc., a California company established in the late 1990s to develop high-end computer storage systems and storage-management software. The company was originally known as 3PARdata, a name associated with founders Jeffrey Price, Ashok Singhal, and Robert Rogers. The “3PAR” identity reflected the company’s three original partners, although Rogers left the business in 2001. David Scott became president and chief executive officer in January 2001 and led the company through its transition from an early-stage storage developer into a public enterprise-technology supplier. 3PAR’s central proposition was to make storage infrastructure more efficient, flexible, and suitable for shared or utility-style computing environments. Its products combined disk-array hardware with software for provisioning, virtualization, management, replication, and workload placement. The company was especially associated with thin provisioning, which allows storage capacity to be allocated logically as needed rather than physically reserving the full amount in advance. 3PAR announced this capability in 2002 and began shipping it to customers in 2003. The approach was well suited to data centers operated by service providers, enterprises consolidating applications, and emerging cloud-computing environments in which storage had to support multiple tenants and changing workloads. The company’s first InServ storage server shipped in September 2002. By the middle of the 2000s, the InServ family served both high-end and modular-array segments. Models such as the T400 and T800 were positioned against large monolithic systems, while the F200 and F400 addressed modular enterprise storage deployments. 3PAR described its broader architecture as “utility storage”: a shared, virtualized storage foundation intended to support infrastructure-as-a-service, software-as-a-service, hosting, and internal IT service-bureau models. Its product differentiation included a custom application-specific integrated circuit architecture, automated provisioning, multi-tenant isolation, and software-directed management of storage resources. 3PAR raised almost $33 million in disclosed financing in 2004 from investors including Mayfield Fund, Menlo Ventures, and Worldview Technology Partners. It expanded its engineering footprint with a research and development office in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in 2007 and established an Indian subsidiary in Bangalore in 2009 for logistical, administrative, global-services, and support activities. The company went public in November 2007 under the symbol PAR and transferred from NYSE Arca to the New York Stock Exchange’s main board in December 2008. In 2010 it introduced Adaptive Optimization, an automated storage-tiering technology intended to place data on appropriate performance tiers while controlling infrastructure cost. 3PAR became the subject of a highly competitive acquisition contest in 2010. Dell first announced a proposed acquisition in August, after which Hewlett-Packard made a higher offer. Repeated counterbids increased the transaction value substantially, reflecting the strategic importance of 3PAR’s technology for virtualization and cloud-oriented storage. HP completed the acquisition on September 27, 2010, for approximately $2.35 billion. 3PAR subsequently operated within HP’s enterprise-storage portfolio. When HP separated its enterprise businesses in 2015, the brand and related assets became part of Hewlett Packard Enterprise. Under HPE, the 3PAR portfolio included the 8000, 9000, and 20000 series, covering midrange through high-end enterprise deployments and offering flash and hybrid configurations. The platforms shared the 3PAR operating-system environment and an ASIC-based architecture supporting functions such as thin provisioning, compression, deduplication, and parity calculations. HPE later positioned 3PAR within its broader storage business alon…

3PAR was founded in California in the late 1990s as 3PARdata by Jeffrey Price, Ashok Singhal, and Robert Rogers. Rogers departed in 2001, and David Scott became president and chief executive officer in January of that year. The company focused on enterprise storage hardware and software at a time when organizations were moving from dedicated application silos toward virtualized and shared data-center infrastructure. Its first major product was the InServ storage server, shipped in September 2002. 3PAR promoted a concept it called utility storage, in which a common storage platform could serve multiple customers, applications, or organizational units while allowing capacity and performance to be managed dynamically. This model addressed the requirements of hosting providers, cloud services, and enterprises building internal shared-service environments. Thin provisioning became one of the company’s most distinctive technologies. Announced in 2002 and shipped commercially in 2003, it enabled logical capacity to be presented without immediately consuming equivalent physical capacity, improving utilization and simplifying expansion. During the 2000s, 3PAR broadened its portfolio across high-end and modular storage. The InServ T400 and T800 were aimed at large enterprise installations, while the F200 and F400 addressed modular-array deployments. The product architecture combined storage controllers, proprietary ASIC technology, and management software. Additional capabilities included virtualization, secure isolation of application data, replication, automated provisioning, and support for multi-tenant environments. 3PAR disclosed an investment round of nearly $33 million in February 2004. Its international engineering and support footprint expanded with a Belfast research and development office in September 2007 and an Indian subsidiary in Bangalore in 2009. The company completed an initial public offering in November 2007 under the symbol PAR and moved its listing to the New York Stock Exchange’s main board in December 2008. In November 2007 it also introduced Virtual Domains, designed to isolate data and administration within a consolidated storage platform. In March 2010, 3PAR announced Adaptive Optimization, an automated storage-tiering system intended to balance application performance and storage cost. The company attracted acquisition interest as demand grew for storage supporting virtualization and cloud computing. Dell announced a proposed acquisition on August 16, 2010. HP entered the contest with a larger offer on August 23. After several rounds of bids, HP offered approximately $2.4 billion, or $33 per share, while Dell’s offer reached $32 per share. The original Dell agreement was terminated, with Dell receiving a break-up fee reported at $72 million. HP completed the acquisition on September 27, 2010, for approximately $2.35 billion. 3PAR continued as a storage technology and product identity within HP. In 2015, HP separated its enterprise assets into Hewlett Packard Enterprise, and 3PAR became part of HPE. The later portfolio included the 8000, 9000, and 20000 series. These systems covered midrange, intermediate, and high-end requirements, with flash and hybrid configurations. The platforms shared the 3PAR operating-system foundation and ASIC-based design, supporting thin provisioning, compression, deduplication, and parity processing. HPE subsequently developed a wider storage portfolio, but 3PAR remains associated with the company’s enterprise-array heritage and its early emphasis on efficient, automated, multi-tenant storage.

1. 20153PAR becomes part of Hewlett Packard Enterprise

   The brand moves into Hewlett Packard Enterprise following the separation of HP’s enterprise assets.

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2. 2010Adaptive Optimization is announced

   3PAR introduces automated storage tiering aimed at optimizing cost and performance in enterprise and service-provider environments.

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3. 2010HP completes acquisition of 3PAR

   HP completes the acquisition after a bidding contest with Dell, bringing 3PAR into HP’s enterprise-storage business.

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4. 2009Indian subsidiary opens

   3PAR establishes a Bangalore subsidiary supporting global services, logistics, administration, and customer support.

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5. 2008Listing moves to the New York Stock Exchange

   3PAR transfers its listing from NYSE Arca to the NYSE’s main board.

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6. 2007Belfast research office opens and 3PAR goes public

   3PAR opens a second research and development office in Belfast and completes its initial public offering under the symbol PAR.

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7. 2007Virtual Domains is introduced

   The company introduces Virtual Domains for secure application-data isolation on consolidated, multi-tenant storage platforms.

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8. 2004Major investment round disclosed

   The company discloses almost $33 million in financing from several venture investors.

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9. 2003Thin provisioning reaches customers

   3PAR begins shipping thin-provisioning functionality, a technology that becomes central to its storage proposition.

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10. 2002InServ storage server ships

    3PAR ships its first InServ storage server in September.

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11. 2001David Scott becomes president and CEO

    David Scott takes leadership of the company as it develops its enterprise-storage business.

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12. 19983PARdata is founded

    Jeffrey Price, Ashok Singhal, and Robert Rogers establish the company that initially operated under the 3PARdata name.

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Enterprise data storage and information management for virtualized data centers, service providers, cloud infrastructure, and shared IT environments.

• 3PAR InServ Storage ServerEnterprise storage array2002

  The InServ family was 3PAR’s foundational storage-server platform, combining array hardware with software for provisioning, virtualization, management, and data protection. It was designed for business data centers and service-provider environments, with product variants spanning high-end monolithic-array competition and more modular deployments. The platform established the architectural and software concepts later carried into HPE-branded 3PAR StoreServ systems.

• 3PAR T400 and T800High-end enterprise storage array2005

  The T400 and T800 were high-end InServ models marketed for large enterprise data centers. They addressed workloads requiring substantial scalability, centralized management, and performance comparable with large monolithic storage systems. Their positioning placed 3PAR against established high-end offerings from suppliers such as EMC and Hitachi Data Systems.

• 3PAR F200 and F400Modular enterprise storage array2005

  The F200 and F400 were modular InServ systems aimed at business data centers that needed shared storage without adopting the largest monolithic platforms. They extended 3PAR’s utility-storage model into a more modular segment and competed with products such as EMC’s modular arrays and HP EVA systems.

• HPE 3PAR StoreServ 8000Midrange enterprise storage2015

  Introduced in 2015, the 8000 series served midrange enterprise requirements and was offered in flash and hybrid configurations. It used the 3PAR architecture and operating-system environment to provide capabilities such as thin provisioning, virtualization, data reduction, and centralized management in a comparatively accessible system range.

• HPE 3PAR StoreServ 9000Enterprise storage array2017

  The 9000 series occupied the space between the 8000 and 20000 families. It was designed for organizations needing greater scale and performance than the midrange systems while retaining the 3PAR approach to shared infrastructure, automated management, thin provisioning, and data reduction. The series could scale to four nodes according to the referenced product description.

• HPE 3PAR StoreServ 20000High-end enterprise storage array2015

  The 20000 series represented the high end of the HPE 3PAR array range. Introduced in 2015, it was designed for demanding enterprise and service-provider deployments and could scale to eight nodes, with additional expansion through federation. Its ASIC-based platform supported storage efficiency and data-management functions across large shared environments.

• 3PAR Adaptive OptimizationAutomated storage-tiering software2010

  Adaptive Optimization was announced in 2010 as an automated storage-tiering capability. It was intended to place data on appropriate storage media according to workload requirements, balancing performance and infrastructure cost. The technology supported 3PAR’s broader utility-storage positioning by reducing the need for manual allocation of applications to fixed performance tiers.

• 3PAR Operating SystemStorage-management software

  The 3PAR operating-system software layer provided common functionality across the array portfolio. Capabilities associated with the platform included thin provisioning, virtualization, compression, deduplication, parity processing, provisioning, and management of shared storage resources. Version 3.3.1 was described as adding or enhancing data-reduction functions, including compression and deduplication improvements.

• 2015Transfer the 3PAR business to Hewlett Packard EnterpriseStrategy

  HP separated its enterprise assets into a new company, Hewlett Packard Enterprise.

  What changed. The 3PAR storage portfolio and related enterprise assets became part of HPE.

  Aftermath. The 3PAR identity continued as an HPE enterprise-storage brand and product family.

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• 2010Accept HP’s acquisition offer after competing bidsM&A

  3PAR became the target of competing acquisition proposals from Dell and Hewlett-Packard as enterprise customers increasingly adopted virtualization and cloud-oriented infrastructure.

  What changed. After successive bid increases, 3PAR accepted HP’s proposal, and HP completed the transaction on September 27, 2010.

  Aftermath. 3PAR became an HP subsidiary and later moved into Hewlett Packard Enterprise when HP separated its enterprise operations in 2015.

  Completed acquisition value. $2.35 billion (2010)

  • Dell — Dell repeatedly raised its offer during the bidding contest but ultimately did not complete the acquisition and received a reported break-up fee after the initial agreement was terminated.
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• 2010Introduce Adaptive OptimizationStrategy

  Enterprise and service-provider customers were seeking ways to combine different storage media and control infrastructure costs without manually managing every workload placement decision.

  What changed. 3PAR announced Adaptive Optimization, an automated storage-tiering capability for high-end storage systems.

  Aftermath. The feature reinforced 3PAR’s positioning around autonomic management, utilization efficiency, and utility-style storage.

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• 20153PAR becomes part of Hewlett Packard Enterprise

  Following the separation of HP’s enterprise operations into Hewlett Packard Enterprise, 3PAR became part of the new enterprise technology company.

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• 2010Dell announces agreement to acquire 3PAR

  Dell announced an approximately $1.15 billion proposal to acquire 3PAR, beginning a competitive bidding process for the storage company.

  M&A
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• 2010HP enters the bidding for 3PAR

  Hewlett-Packard made a higher offer for 3PAR, valuing the storage company at approximately $1.5 billion and challenging Dell’s initial transaction.

  M&A
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• 2010Dell and HP escalate 3PAR acquisition bids

  A sequence of revised offers from Dell and HP lifted the proposed acquisition value above $2 billion and made 3PAR the focus of a prominent technology bidding contest.

  M&APricing
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• 2010HP completes acquisition of 3PAR

  HP completed its acquisition of 3PAR for approximately $2.35 billion, bringing the storage company into HP’s enterprise portfolio.

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1. 3PAR
2. Hewlett Packard Enterprise