Western Digital has acquired privately held VeloBit, a provider of high-performance storage I/O optimization software. VeloBit will be fully integrated into HGST, a wholly owned subsidiary of Western Digital. Headquartered in Lincoln, MA, VeloBit enhances storage system performance with its software technology by adding an acceleration layer utilizing solid state drives (SSDs). Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

VeloBit's SSD caching software accelerates applications and increases server density by enabling higher I/O performance, lower latency, and more efficient usage of processor and storage resources.

Both the VeloBit acquisition and the proposed sTec acquisition by Western Digital reflect acceleration by its HGST subsidiary in the strategic enterprise SSD space, augmenting its technology position and IP portfolio with additional engineering and design resources.

"In VeloBit we saw a great team that has developed and commercialized breakthrough I/O optimization software," said Mike Cordano, president, HGST. "The acquisition of VeloBit is an important step in our strategy to develop robust software capabilities to augment our successful SSD product portfolio."