iXsystems, Inc. (formerly BSDi) and Racemi, Inc. announced that the two companies have signed a letter of intent for iXsystems to acquire Racemi's RACE5 ultra-dense blade server technology and certain intellectual property for the design and operation of blade and rack-optimized servers in high-density computing environments. The definitive agreement will be finalized in May and the terms will remain confidential.

Engineering employees currently associated with Racemi's blade server hardware designs will become iXsystems employees. iXsystems will add the blade server technology to its current line of rack-optimized servers later this year. Racemi will continue to develop its DynaCenter(TM) software for the automated allocation of enterprise and Internet data center resources based on both blade and rack-optimized servers.

"Racemi's blade server technology offers an impressive combination of density, performance and reliability," said Bob Spina, President and CEO of iXsystems. "In addition, the integrated server allocation and management software will enable our customers to pool and deploy blade and rack servers across a single, seamless allocation infrastructure."

Racemi has been developing the blade technology since September 2000. "The RACE5 technology provides an ideal fit with iXsystems' existing product lines," said Paul Freet, co-founder and CEO of Racemi. "iXsystems' expertise in integrating high-density hardware with industrial-strength operating systems will benefit our mutual customers. The transfer of the RACE5 technology to iXsystems will allow Racemi to focus on the upcoming launch of our DynaCenter product."

The current RACE5 platform, which includes five high-performance, Intel Pentium III server blades in a 1U rack unit, provides a low-cost, low-power, ultra-dense blade-server solution that offers incremental scalability. The server blades operate in a diskless or traditional hard-disk mode. Each blade can run a range of applications and operating systems, including FreeBSD, Red Hat Linux, Immunix, or Windows NT/2000 Server. Any blade can be re-configured in minutes without disrupting the operation of other blades. In addition, the server blades can be hot-swapped in seconds without any special handling or prior configuration.

The RACE5 blade allocation and management software enables data center administrators to "virtualize" their server pools with a library of operating system and application suites available on network attached storage. Administrators can change the operating system and application loads of their servers on the fly, reducing the numbers of servers they need to efficiently meet fluctuating demand and dramatically reducing power consumption. Entire server farms can be upgraded or reconfigured to support new services and customers in minutes and, if necessary, rolled back just as quickly.

"We have deployed the RACE5 system in a successful trial at our data center and are impressed with its robust design, ease of maintenance, and diskless operation," said Mark Wensell, Vice President of Engineering for bayMountain, an MSP that specializes in the management of complex hosting infrastructures. "Its combination of density and performance; without any overt sacrifices in processor speed or design, is unique in our experience."

About Racemi, Inc.

Founded in 2000, Racemi is an emerging leader in providing innovative utility computing software solutions for enterprise and Internet data centers. Racemi software solutions dramatically improve the productivity and efficiency of both new and existing data centers, without disrupting current operations or requiring re-investment in infrastructure. For additional information visit the company's website at http://www.racemi.com/ or call 404-892-5850.

About iXsystems, Inc.

iXsystems, Inc. (formerly BSDi) is a leading provider of high-density server solutions for Internet data centers, Web hosting providers, Web content providers, and service provider networks. Available in a range of built-to-order configurations, the company's servers power the Internet, running the Internet's highest-traffic Web sites and highest-volume service networks. For more information, visit http://www.ixsystems.net/ or call 408-943-4100.