In the fast-evolving world of technology, there’s a constant chase to achieve the perfect blend of performance, security, and cost-effectiveness. Over the past few years, the race to combine the flexibility of the cloud with the security of on-prem infrastructure has seen numerous contenders.
Enter Oxide. Founded by industry stalwarts with deep roots in the computing sphere, this startup is positioning itself as the game-changer the industry has been waiting for. Its goal? To deliver a cloud-like experience but right within the confines of a private data center.
Why the Blend of Cloud and On-Prem?
Oxide’s founders, Steve Tuck (CEO) and Bryan Cantrill (CTO), are no strangers to the tech scene. With resumes boasting roles at giants like Dell and Sun Microsystems, and a notable tenure at Joyent, a cloud infrastructure company snapped up by Samsung, they bring a collective four decades of expertise to the table.
Their vision stems from a simple observation: The true essence of the cloud isn’t just about renting server space from giants like Amazon or Microsoft. Instead, it’s about the seamless interface with vast compute, storage, and networking resources, which developers can use efficiently.
Oxide aims to disrupt the status quo by offering a new approach. As Cantrill puts it, “Nobody has truly integrated hardware and software in a rack-level approach, enabling companies to harness it within their own data centers. That’s what sparked Oxide.”
While Tuck acknowledges the significance of public cloud infrastructures, he believes that cloud computing is a method, not an endpoint. The essence of Oxide is to let businesses decide between renting or owning, without sacrificing the flexibility associated with cloud computing.
The Oxide Solution
One of the main challenges with on-prem setups has been deployment speed. In a rapidly changing tech landscape, waiting for months to set up isn’t viable. To tackle this, Oxide offers a rack-level system equipped with 32 sleds. Each sled acts as an individual system, complete with an AMD CPU, DRAM, and storage. As Cantrill explains, integrating an additional sled is as simple as snapping it in place. Remarkably, the entire setup process, from unpacking to full operational status, takes a mere three hours.
Diving deeper, Oxide has gone the extra mile on the software front. They’ve crafted their own firmware, hypervisor, and control plane. This complete control over the technology stack, they believe, offers a competitive edge.
The Path Ahead for Oxide
Having established its foundation in 2019, Oxide has dedicated the past four years to refining its product. Their recent Series A funding round, which saw an impressive $44 million investment led by notable names like Eclipse and Intel Capital, is set to fuel their market expansion.
With a total capital of $78 million in their kitty, the company is primed to move beyond its current single-customer deployment and make waves in the broader tech sphere.
In Conclusion
While many have ventured into the realm of merging cloud flexibility with on-prem security, Oxide’s holistic approach stands out. The industry will keenly watch if this blend of experienced leadership and innovative thinking can redefine data center operations.
