QuorumLabs History

The foundation technology of QuorumLabs is a sophisticated system for distributed computing resource management. Originally developed for shipboard combat computing clouds by a “skunk works” R&D team at Themis Computer, they soon realized the technology had compelling commercial applications. As a result, QuorumLabs was spun out as a separate and independent company.

In the business world, information technology professionals had started recognizing that their backup systems were becoming obsolete. Traditional backup assumed that computers were expensive and spare units were not instantly available. Failures meant obtaining new hardware, which took hours or days, and restoring from backup took comparable amounts of time.

Virtual computing makes spare platforms ready at a moment’s notice, rendering unacceptable the delays caused by the old backup-restore paradigm. But raw virtual machines are only one ingredient of a rapid recovery plan. Assembling all the required ingredients, synchronizing constantly with the production environment, then triggering recovery in case of failure involved too much ongoing complexity to be practical for already overloaded IT professionals.

Using its distributed computing resource management, QuorumLabs automated this entire process, resulting in several patented innovations. Combined with source-based deduplication, powerful hardware platforms, and highly reliable data centers, QuorumLabs created the onQ systems of appliances and hybrid-cloud services. Now Recovery Nodes are just a mouse-click away, easily tested, ready to run, creating a level of reliability previously known only in high-end military and data center applications.

The spin-out of QuorumLabs was funded by Airtek Capital Group (ACG) and a group of technology innovators. ACG is a closely held private European group whose primary investors funded Themis in 1989. These investors have been instrumental in building many successful technology companies including Tekelec (NSDQ:TKLC), Ixia (NSDQ:XXIA), Orolia (NYSE Euronext:ALORO), and Sandpiper Networks (acquired by Digital Island).