Sun Microsystems Inc., the world’s third-largest maker of server computers, agreed to buy the majority of closely held Boulder-based Cluster File Systems Inc.’s intellectual property and business assets to add data-storage tools.
The purchase should be completed in Sun’s second quarter, which begins Oct. 1, the Santa Clara, Calif.-based company said Wednesday in a statement. Terms of the transaction weren’t disclosed.
Sun will use the assets, which include the Lustre file system, to bolster its Solaris software and help market it more widely. International Business Machines Corp. last month became the first major computer-maker to agree to distribute Solaris.
“This will likely allow Sun to have more competitive storage offerings,” Michael Cohen, director of research at San Diego-based Pacific American Securities Inc., said in an interview. Cohen has a “buy” rating on Sun and owns shares.
Sun slipped 5 cents to $5.66 in regular Nasdaq Stock Market trading. The shares have gained 4.4 percent this year.
Sun spokeswoman Stephanie Hess didn’t return a call seeking comment. A call to Cluster’s headquarters wasn’t returned.
Lustre is an open-source computer file system that distributes data among multiple servers for faster processing. It’s used in supercomputers such as IBM’s BlueGene/L.
Cluster, which started operations in 2003, has about 80 employees and offices in the U.S., Canada and China, according to its website. About 40 customers use Lustre and 12 partners distribute it.
