Oracle acquires virtual networking company Xsigo Systems for an undisclosed sum as it appears to follow the data centre and network virtualisation trend seen in VMware's recent big purchase, Nicira.
Xsigo makes "Data Centre Fabric" (DCF)-- software virtualising network cards and connections in order to reduce the amount of physical hardware and cabling needed to run a virtual machine network. By managing network activity, it "tricks" hypervisors into acting as if the physical server has more physical network cards and switches than it actually has.
Virtual networking is something a "next big thing." HP offers a product similar to the DCF with Virtual Connect, with the only difference being the DCF is platform agnostic while Virtual Connect is not (being HP-only).
Oracle should be combining Xsigo software with Oracle VM, using it to "deliver a complete set of virtualisation capabilities for cloud environments."
Xsigo has "hundreds" of enterprise customers, including BT, eBay, Softbank and Verizon.