View source for Company:Parallan Computer

{{Infobox company
| name=Meridian Data, Inc.
| former_name=Parallan Computer, Inc. (1986–1994)
| logo=Parallan Computer logo.svg
| type=Public
| founded={{start date and age|1986|07}} in Mountain View, California, United States
| hq_location=Santa Cruz, California (1994–1999)
| fate=Acquired by [[Company:Quantum Corporation|Quantum Corporation]]
| defunct={{end date and age|1999|09}}
| industry=Computer
| products=[[Server (computing)|Servers]]
}}
'''Parallan Computer, Inc.''', was an American computer company active from 1986 to 1999 and based in Mountain View, California. The company was best known for their line of [[Server (computing)|server]]s and collaborations with [[Company:IBM|IBM]] for the latter's PS/2 Server range. In 1994, the company merged with '''Meridian Data, Inc.''', assuming the latter's name and marketing CD-ROM servers before moving into the [[Network-attached storage|network-attached storage]] (NAS) market with the Snap! Server. In 1999, [[Company:Quantum Corporation|Quantum Corporation]] acquired Meridian Data for $85&nbsp;million.

==History==
Parallan Computer was founded in July 1986 in Mountain View, California, by Gianluca Rattazzi, [[Biography:Charlie Bass (engineer)|Charlie Bass]], and William Patton.<ref name=nw>{{cite journal | last=Brown | first=Bob | author2=Gail Runnoe | date=February 12, 1990 | url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/215901042/ | title=Rising Stars II: Observers Eye Net Start-Up Standouts | journal=Network World | publisher=IDG Publications | volume=7 | issue=7 | pages=9, 12, 65 | via=ProQuest}}</ref><ref name=hot>{{cite journal | last=Clark | first=Don | date=October 25, 1990 | url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/302484363/ | title=Parallan Computer Enters Hot New Market for Servers | journal=San Francisco Chronicle | page=C-3 | via=ProQuest}}</ref> Rattazzi, Parallan's principal founder and president, was previously the manager for [[Company:Olivetti S.p.A.|Olivetti]]'s [[Engineering:Personal computer|personal computing]] division.<ref name=hot /> Bass had founded [[Company:Ungermann-Bass|Ungermann-Bass]], a computer networking company, in 1977; he was named Parallan's [[Social:Chairman|chairman]].<ref name=nw /> Patton was formerly the [[Social:Chief executive officer|CEO]] of Management Assistance, Inc., a pioneering [[Minicomputer|mini]]- and [[Microcomputer|microcomputer]] company.<ref name=hot />

Parallan was founded to specialize in a class of [[Server (computing)|server]]s known as [[Application server|application server]]s, designing their machines with multiple [[Engineering:Microprocessor|microprocessor]]s to ensure [[High availability|high availability]]. The company targeted their products at large corporations such as airliners and banks, whose computer backbones usually consisted of mainframes and large [[Engineering:Local area network|local area network]]s comprising [[Engineering:IBM Personal Computer|IBM Personal Computer]]s and compatible systems. The company was able to accrue US$12&nbsp;million in venture capital in the first four years of its foundation.<ref name=hot />{{efn|Despite raising a healthy amount of capital, Parallan reportedly suffered from low cash reserves.<ref name=nw /><ref name=hot />}} Its initial range of servers cost between $50,000 and $250,000 and made use of [[Company:Intel|Intel]]'s [[Engineering:I486|i486]] processors as well as custom [[Engineering:Application-specific integrated circuit|ASIC]]s, allowing certain software to send [[Network packet|packet]]s of data through 64-bit-wide data paths, allowing for greater [[Network throughput|throughput]].<ref name=hot /> Parallan's ASICs specifically supported IBM's OS/2, their new general-purpose operating system, and [[Software:LAN Manager|LAN Manager]], OS/2's [[Network operating system|networking]] counterpart.<ref name=nw /><ref>{{cite journal | last=Staff writers | date=September 24, 1990 | url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-san-francisco-examiner-koelker-elect/129826550/ | title=Koelker elected to board of Foote, Cone & Belding | journal=San Francisco Chronicle | page=C-2 | via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Parallan's servers were additionally based on IBM's proprietary Micro Channel bus architecture.<ref name=pcw />

The company posted roughly $10&nbsp;million in sales in 1991, representing 20&nbsp;percent of total sales in the high-performance server market, which netted less than $50&nbsp;million in sales that year.<ref name=pcw>{{cite journal | last=Boudette | first=Neal | date=April 20, 1992 | url=https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A12074732/GPS?sid=wikipedia | title=IBM to buy Parallan stake to shore up server strategy: multiprocessing OS/2, servers on tap | journal=PC Week | publisher=Ziff-Davis | volume=9 | issue=16 | page=1 ''et seq.'' | via=Gale}}</ref><ref name=wsj>{{cite journal | last=Miller | first=Michael W. | date=May 29, 1992 | url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/398328402/ | title=IBM to Resell PC Server Made by Small Firm | journal=The Wall Street Journal | publisher=Dow Jones & Company | page=B3 | via=ProQuest}}</ref> In April 1992, IBM announced that they had inked a deal with Parallan for exclusive rights to market, distribute, and sell Parallan's Server 290—a dual i486 machine built into a large, RS/6000—later in the year,<ref name=pcw /><ref name=downsizing>{{cite book | last=Kavanaugh | first=Paul | date=1995 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O9ZQAAAAMAAJ | title=Downsizing for Client/Server Applications | publisher=AP Professional | isbn=9780124026803 | via=Google Books}}</ref>{{rp|132}} in exchange for a 10-percent stake in Parallan for ten years.<ref name=ibm>{{cite journal | last=Staff writers | date=April 22, 1992 | url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-san-francisco-examiner-ibm-agrees-to/129826615/ | title=IBM agrees to 2 licensing arrangements | journal=San Francisco Examiner | page=D-2 | via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref name=sour>{{cite journal | last=Vijayan | first=Jaikumar | date=April 18, 1994 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8RxfG8f4hXgC&pg=PA39 | title=IBM alliance turns sour for Parallan | journal=Computerworld | publisher=IDG Publications | volume=28 | issue=16 | page=39 | via=Google Books}}</ref> IBM's rebranded Parallan servers were eventually realized as the PS/2 Server 195 and 295—single- and dual-CPU versions of the Server 290, respectively.<ref name=downsizing />

Industry analysts initially remarked that IBM's stake in Parallan—later increased to 12&nbsp;percent—had saved Parallan from the brink of collapse, as they had a $14.4&nbsp;million deficit at the time.<ref name=sour /> The partnership even compelled Parallan to file to [[Finance:Initial public offering|go public]], in February 1993.<ref>{{cite journal | date=February 8, 1993 | url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/398297706/ | title=Recent SEC Filings | journal=The Wall Street Journal | publisher=Dow Jones & Company | page=C9 | via=ProQuest}}</ref> However, the partnership had made Parallan's revenues totally dependent on the PS/2 Servers, which did not fare very well, owing to market conflict with IBM's higher-end mainstream PS/2 models and [[PowerPC]]-based RS/6000 offerings and poor marketing. Parallan's revenue constricted roughly $2&nbsp;million between the second and third fiscal quarters of 1993, and by April 1994, the deal between the two companies had reportedly fallen through. "Unfortunately for Parallan, IBM loves their partners to death", remarked John Dunkle, a president at a competing server manufacturer.<ref name=sour /> Parallan and IBM formally terminated their partnership by late 1994.<ref name=cbr>{{cite journal | date=December 5, 1994 | url=https://techmonitor.ai/technology/parallan_has_19m_to_turn_itself_into_meridian | title=Parallan Has $19m to Turn Itself into Meridian | journal=Computer Business Review | publisher=New Statesman Media Group | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20230811171802/https://techmonitor.ai/technology/parallan_has_19m_to_turn_itself_into_meridian | archivedate=August 11, 2023}}</ref>

Though Parallan had $36&nbsp;million in cash reserves in the aftermath of the IBM partnership, the company ceased to be a manufacturing concern and had very little backstock of products.<ref name=cbr /> In December 1994, the company announced the acquisition of Meridian Data, Inc., of Scotts Valley, California, for $19&nbsp;million in cash.<ref name=takingover /> Founded in 1986, Meridian Data was a pioneer of the [[CD-ROM]] format who had marketed a wide range of CD-ROM storage devices and servers in the early 1990s.<ref name=snap>{{cite journal | last=Pittman | first=Jennifer | date=April 6, 1998 | url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/santa-cruz-sentinel-company-shifts-focus/129828414/ | title=Company shifts focus to network storage | journal=Santa Cruz Sentinel | page=A-6 | via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref name=cbr /> Parallan assumed the Meridian Data name and merged operations, moving their headquarters to Scotts Valley accordingly.<ref name=takingover>{{cite journal | last=Staff writers | date=December 2, 1994 | url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-san-francisco-examiner-parallan-taki/129828394/ | title=Parallan taking over Meridian Data | journal=San Francisco Examiner | page=B-2 | via=Newspapers.com}}</ref>

In 1996, the combined Parallan and Meridian Data began pivoting to hard drive–based [[Network-attached storage|network-attached storage]] (NAS) devices, introducing their flagship Snap! Server in 1998.<ref name=snap /> In May 1999, [[Company:Quantum Corporation|Quantum Corporation]] of Milpitas, California, announced their acquisition of Meridian Data for $85&nbsp;million, allowing Quantum to enter the NAS market.<ref>{{cite journal | date=May 12, 1999 | url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/398746065/ | title=Quantum's Meridian Data Deal | journal=The Wall Street Journal | publisher=Dow Jones & Company | page=1 | via=ProQuest}}</ref><ref name=quantum /> The acquisition was finalized in September 1999, Quantum continuing to market the Snap Server for several years.<ref name=quantum>{{cite journal | date=November 1999 | url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/274556287/ | title=Quantum enters NAS market | journal=Unisys World | publisher=Publications & Communications | volume=20 | issue=11 | page=16 | via=ProQuest}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/19970205104231/http://www.meridian-data.com/|title=Official website|date=February 5, 1997}}

[[Category:Defunct computer hardware companies]]
[[Category:Server hardware]]
[[Category:Companies (Computing)]]
[[Category:Companies]]

{{Sourceattribution|Parallan Computer}}