Samsung buys software maker for caching SSDs

Samsung has acquired an American maker of caching SSD software for an undisclosed sum. It is not known what the Koreans are putting on the table for the company, Proximal Data.

Proximal Data has been around since 2011 and develops server caching software, with input/output focused on virtual systems such as VMware ESXi and Microsoft’s Hyper-V. The software makes it easier to manage and store frequently used data, which would improve performance.

With the acquisition, Samsung wants to be able to better focus on software for SSDs in servers, the company says in a press release. With this, the Korean technology giant hopes to secure its position in the server and data market.

The acquisition of Proximal Data follows after Samsung had already bought Nvelo two years ago, also an American developer of software for caching SSDs. Nvelo’s main product was Dataplex, software that optimizes the input/output when using an SSD as a caching medium in addition to an HDD. Samsung has been using this technology in its products since last year.

Caching SSDs are important in notebook computers, for example, where adding full-fledged SSDs can significantly increase the price. Caching SSDs are a cheap solution here to provide better performance over HDD-only models while still delivering a lot of storage capacity.