'Revolutionary' storage start-up taps HPE channel as it emerges from stealth

Nebulon to sell 100 per cent through HPE and other server vendors as it emerges from stealth mode

A gang of former 3PAR executives have emerged from stealth mode with a "revolutionary" new storage vendor that will sell 100 per cent through OEM server manufacturers.

Nebulon will tap into the channels of HPE and Supermicro for its ‘Cloud-Defined Storage' technology, which it claims offers enterprises an alternative to "restrictive and expensive" storage solutions with an API-first approach.

Nebulon's CEO, COO, executive chairman, general counsel, VP of sales and head of solutions engineering were all among the top brass at 3PAR, which HPE gobbled in 2010 for $2.35bn.

The California-based outfit bills its Cloud-Defined Storage as "the first ground-breaking innovation for server-based primary storage since the introduction of hyperconverged infrastructure".

The on-prem, server-based storage technology consumes no server CPU or memory resources, and is defined and managed through the cloud.

Nebulon's London-based VP of sales Tim Pitcher (pictured, above right) confirmed that its channel strategy will map 100 per cent onto those of its OEM server partners, namely HPE, SuperMicro and one other yet-to-be-announced ally.

"We are operating a demand generation programme with solution architects and a small number of sales resources to support our OEMs," Pitcher told CRN.

"We are offering a new and highly innovative way of deploying storage and data management services for customers. If you are an HPE or SMC partner today, you now have a new solution to take to your customers where you are selling servers but not storage."

Headquartered in Fremont, California, Nebulon has offices in Seattle, London and Belfast. It has secured $18.3m in funding so far, according to Crunchbase.

It is led by former 3PAR chief architect Siamak Nazari (pictured, above left), with former 3PAR CEO David Scott among its other founders. Other 3PAR alumni include its COO Craig Nunes (pictured, above centre) and head of solutions Martin Cooper.

Nebulon claims its cloud-managed, server-based approach for mission-critical storage reduces cost by drawing on commodity SSDs in industry standard servers.

"Customers are looking to leverage cloud and AI in their datacentres, plus they are increasingly buying server based SSDs at a fraction (one-sixth) of the price of the same SSD from their storage vendor. So this market is happening and growing," Pitcher explained.

"We can sell where our partners sell," Pitcher said, adding that the start-up is already engaging with customers "from London to Poland to South Africa and across the US".

"Sales and support are offered with HPE and SMC," he said.

"Because we go to market with our server partners and their channels we do not need to build a massive global field organisation. We can concentrate on making our partners and customers successful."