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sTec, Inc., was an American
computer data storage Computer data storage or digital data storage is a technology consisting of computer components and Data storage, recording media that are used to retain digital data. It is a core function and fundamental component of computers. The cent ...
technology company headquartered in
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
.Bloomberg BusinessWeek. �
STEC Profile
” September 20, 2010.
It had research and development, sales, support and manufacturing sites in
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
,
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
,
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
,
Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...
,
Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that is a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical area of the Santa Clara Valley ...
(USA), and
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
. sTec, formerly Simple Technology then SimpleTech, was founded by Manouch Moshayedi and Mark Moshayedi in 1990. The company designs, develops and manufactures
solid-state drive A solid-state drive (SSD) is a type of solid-state storage device that uses integrated circuits to store data persistently. It is sometimes called semiconductor storage device, solid-state device, or solid-state disk. SSDs rely on non- ...
s (SSDs) based on
flash memory Flash memory is an Integrated circuit, electronic Non-volatile memory, non-volatile computer memory storage medium that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. The two main types of flash memory, NOR flash and NAND flash, are named for t ...
and
dynamic random access memory Dynamics (from Greek δυναμικός ''dynamikos'' "powerful", from δύναμις ''dynamis'' " power") or dynamic may refer to: Physics and engineering * Dynamics (mechanics), the study of forces and their effect on motion Brands and ente ...
(DRAM), providing them to
data center A data center is a building, a dedicated space within a building, or a group of buildings used to house computer systems and associated components, such as telecommunications and storage systems. Since IT operations are crucial for busines ...
environments and original equipment manufacturer (OEM) customers.By Beth Pariseau, SearchStorage. �
STEC Inc. CTO looks at the future of flash and solid-state drives
” August 17, 2009.
Customers include
Dell Dell Inc. is an American technology company that develops, sells, repairs, and supports personal computers (PCs), Server (computing), servers, data storage devices, network switches, software, computer peripherals including printers and webcam ...
, EMC, Fujitsu, HP, and
IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...
.By Paul Shread, Enterprise Storage Forum. �
STEC Has EMC to Thank for Its Rapid Growth
” August 4, 2009.
sTec also has distributors, resellers and system integrators. sTec was acquired by
HGST HGST, Inc. (Hitachi Global Storage Technologies) was a manufacturer of hard disk drives, solid-state drives, and external storage products and services. It was initially a subsidiary of Hitachi, formed through its acquisition of IBM's disk driv ...
, a
Western Digital Western Digital Corporation is an American data storage company headquartered in San Jose, California. Established in 1970, the company is one of the world's largest manufacturers of hard disk drives (HDDs). History 1970s Western Digital ...
company. Western Digital completed the acquisition of sTec on September 12, 2013.


History


Simple Technology

In 1990, Simple Technology was founded by two brothers from
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...
: Manouch Moshayedi and Mike Moshayedi. Using $100,000 of their own savings, the brothers created a company that designed and sold computer memory modules. Three years later, Mark Moshayedi (aged 38 at the time) joined the company as chief operating and technical officer.Chris Mellor, June 17, 2008. �
There's a lot of sizzle with this STEC
” The Register. Retrieved on December 17, 2008.
They are of Iranian (Persian) descent. Mark is related to them. From 1990 to 2007, the company designed and manufactured
flash Flash, flashes, or FLASH may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional aliases * The Flash, several DC Comics superheroes with super speed: ** Flash (Jay Garrick) ** Barry Allen ** Wally West, the first Kid Flash and third adult Flash ...
solid-state drive A solid-state drive (SSD) is a type of solid-state storage device that uses integrated circuits to store data persistently. It is sometimes called semiconductor storage device, solid-state device, or solid-state disk. SSDs rely on non- ...
s,
dynamic random-access memory Dynamics (from Greek language, Greek δυναμικός ''dynamikos'' "powerful", from δύναμις ''dynamis'' "power (disambiguation), power") or dynamic may refer to: Physics and engineering * Dynamics (mechanics), the study of forces and t ...
(DRAM), and
static random-access memory Static random-access memory (static RAM or SRAM) is a type of random-access memory (RAM) that uses latching circuitry (flip-flop) to store each bit. SRAM is volatile memory; data is lost when power is removed. The ''static'' qualifier diffe ...
(SRAM).. In 1994, Simple Technology bought
Cirrus Logic Cirrus Logic Inc. is an American fabless semiconductor company, fabless semiconductor supplier that specializes in analog, mixed-signal, and audio Digital signal processor, DSP integrated circuits (ICs). Since 1998, the company's headquarters have ...
’s flash controller operation, to enter the
flash memory Flash memory is an Integrated circuit, electronic Non-volatile memory, non-volatile computer memory storage medium that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. The two main types of flash memory, NOR flash and NAND flash, are named for t ...
business for consumer electronic devices. In 1998, Simple Technology bought SiliconTech Inc., obtaining that company's business flash memory customer base and operation. In 1999, sTec was first to market the 1 GB solid-state IDE storage devices,
SDRAM Synchronous dynamic random-access memory (synchronous dynamic RAM or SDRAM) is any DRAM where the operation of its external pin interface is coordinated by an externally supplied clock signal. DRAM integrated circuits (ICs) produced from the ...
modules and also 320 MB Type II
CompactFlash CompactFlash (CF) is a flash memory mass storage device used mainly in portable electronic devices. The format was specified and the devices were first manufactured by SanDisk in 1994. CompactFlash became one of the most successful of the e ...
. Simple Technology became a publicly traded company on the
NASDAQ The Nasdaq Stock Market (; National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the U.S. by volume, and ranked second on the list ...
stock exchange on September 26, 2000, under the ticker symbol of STEC.


SimpleTech

The company shortened its name to SimpleTech in 2001. The SimpleShare consumer
network attached storage Network-attached storage (NAS) is a file-level computer data storage server connected to a computer network providing data access to a heterogeneous group of clients. In this context, the term "NAS" can refer to both the technology and systems ...
device was announced in November 2004. In 2006, SimpleTech announced its first portable external hard drive designed by Pininfarina. In early 2007, the company sold the SimpleTech consumer division to Fabrik Inc. (a company funded and founded by Keyur Patel, Anaal Udaybabu along with Mike Cordano) for $43 million in cash. Fabrik continued to develop and market products under the SimpleTech brand including the Joggle.com
website A website (also written as a web site) is any web page whose content is identified by a common domain name and is published on at least one web server. Websites are typically dedicated to a particular topic or purpose, such as news, educatio ...
and the environmentally friendly erive introduced in 2008. Fabrik was acquired by
Hitachi () is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1910 and headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo. The company is active in various industries, including digital systems, power and renewable ener ...
in 2009 for an estimated $950 million.


sTec

Following the 2007 sale, the remaining OEM business then operated as STEC, Inc. (later stylized as sTec, Inc.), and was publicly traded on
NASDAQ The Nasdaq Stock Market (; National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the U.S. by volume, and ranked second on the list ...
until being acquired in 2013. The company then focused on business-flash memory products. At that point Mike Moshayedi resigned from sTec, Mark Moshayedi became president and chief operating officer and Manouch Moshayedi became CEO. In March 2007, Mark Moshayedi was promoted to president. This same year, sTec became the industry's first supplier to deploy enterprise-class SSDs to OEMs. In 2009, after announcing
EMC Corporation EMC Corporation (stylized as EMC²) was an American multinational corporation headquartered in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, which sold data storage device, data storage, information security, virtualization, analytics, cloud computing and other pro ...
as the sole customer of its ZeusIOPS enterprise SSDs, sTec sales reached a $1 billion market capitalization. In April 2011, sTec announced it acquired the assets of Knowledge Quest Infotech Private Limited in
Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...
,
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
. In September 2012, Mark Moshayedi was named sTec chief executive officer. On June 24, 2013,
Western Digital Western Digital Corporation is an American data storage company headquartered in San Jose, California. Established in 1970, the company is one of the world's largest manufacturers of hard disk drives (HDDs). History 1970s Western Digital ...
corporation announced sTec would become part of its HGST subsidiary, with a purchase price estimated at $340 million.


Products

SimpleTech is a consumer brand of external
hard drive A hard disk drive (HDD), hard disk, hard drive, or fixed disk is an electro-mechanical data storage device that stores and retrieves digital data using magnetic storage with one or more rigid rapidly rotating hard disk drive platter, pla ...
s and
backup In information technology, a backup, or data backup is a copy of computer data taken and stored elsewhere so that it may be used to restore the original after a data loss event. The verb form, referring to the process of doing so, is "wikt:back ...
products owned by Fabrik Inc. and designed to integrate
computer hardware Computer hardware includes the physical parts of a computer, such as the central processing unit (CPU), random-access memory (RAM), motherboard, computer data storage, graphics card, sound card, and computer case. It includes external devices ...
,
software Software consists of computer programs that instruct the Execution (computing), execution of a computer. Software also includes design documents and specifications. The history of software is closely tied to the development of digital comput ...
, and
online services An online service provider (OSP) can, for example, be an Internet service provider, an email provider, a news provider (press), an entertainment provider (music, movies), a search engine, an e-commerce site, an online banking site, a health site, ...
to help consumers store, protect, manage, and share digital content. The brand and product line was originally created by Simple Technology, a company founded in 1990, which later changed its name to SimpleTech in 2001. The SimpleTech brand and consumer products included
flash memory Flash memory is an Integrated circuit, electronic Non-volatile memory, non-volatile computer memory storage medium that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. The two main types of flash memory, NOR flash and NAND flash, are named for t ...
cards,
USB flash drives A flash drive (also thumb drive, memory stick, and pen drive/pendrive) is a data storage device that includes flash memory with an integrated USB interface. A typical USB drive is removable, rewritable, and smaller than an optical disc, and ...
, memory upgrades, and external and portable disk drive storage, to Fabrik in February 2007. Fabrik acquired the SimpleTech's storage platform to integrate and deliver backup and
content management Content management (CM) are a set of processes and technologies that support the collection, managing, and publishing of information in any form or medium. When stored and accessed via computers, this information may be more specifically referre ...
software and
web service A web service (WS) is either: * a service offered by an electronic device to another electronic device, communicating with each other via the Internet, or * a server running on a computer device, listening for requests at a particular port over a n ...
s (FabrikUltimateBackup.com and Joggle.com), allowing consumers to store, access, manage and share their digital content. The SimpleTech product line includes the Signature Mini USB Portable Drives, the Pro Drive family, and the environmentally friendly SimpleTech erive.SimpleTech Website
The original design of the SimpleTech portable external storage product line was inspired by the
Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello. Founded in 1939 by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988), the company built Auto Avio Costruzioni 815, its first car in 1940, adopted its current name in 1945, and be ...
design team
Pininfarina Pininfarina S.p.A. (; ; short for Pininfarina Società per Azioni) is an Italian automotive design, car design firm and coachbuilder, with headquarters in Cambiano, Turin, Italy. The company was founded by Battista "Pinin" Farina in 1930. On 14 ...
.Press Release, February 12, 2007. �
Fabrik Acquires SimpleTech’s Consumer Business
”. Retrieved on December 17, 2008.
Unknown author, August 12, 2008. �
Deal Radar 2008: Fabrik
” sramana mitra. Retrieved on October 21, 2008. Retrieved on December 17, 2008.
Ryan Block, April 9, 2008. �
SimpleTech SimpleDrive: up to 1TB, Pininfarina design
” Enamengadget. Retrieved on December 17, 2008.


References

{{Western Digital Computer storage companies Companies based in California Companies formerly listed on the Nasdaq Western Digital Defunct computer companies of the United States Defunct computer hardware companies