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Cobalt Networks was a maker of low-cost Linux-based servers and server appliances based in Mountain View, California. The company had 1,900 end user customers in more than 70 countries.[1]
During the dot-com bubble, the company had a market capitalization of $6 billion despite only $22 million in annual revenue.
In 2000, the company was acquired by Sun Microsystems and in December 2003, Sun shut down the Cobalt product line.[2]
Cobalt was considered a pioneering server appliance vendor, the first to market a 1 RU rackmounted server, and was credited by the founder of RLX Technologies as paving the way for blade servers.[2]
The company was founded in 1996 by Vivek Mehra as Cobalt Microserver. In June 1998, the company changed its name to Cobalt Networks, Inc.[3]
The company introduced products as follows:[1]
| Product | Launch date |
|---|---|
| Cobalt Qube | March 1998 |
| Cobalt Cache | July 1998 |
| Cobalt RaQ | September 1998 |
| Cobalt NAS | April 1999 |
| Cobalt Management Console | October 1999 |
On November 5, 1999, the company became a public company via an initial public offering. Its stock price rose as much as 618% above its $22/share initial price.[4]
On March 23, 2000, the company announced the acquisition of Chilisoft from Charlie Crystle for 1.15 million shares of Cobalt common stock, then valued at $69.9 million.[5][6]
In September 2000, Sun Microsystems announced the acquisition of the company for $2 billion in stock.[7] The acquisition was completed on December 7, 2000.
Many disgruntled engineers left the company in the months following the acquisition.[8]
In December 2003, Sun shut down the Cobalt product line.[2]
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