Grab a virtual doughnut join us for episode 44 of Network Break, with special guest Howard Marks. We parse IDC numbers on global cloud infrastructure spending, which is on the rise, and non-cloud spending, which is flat (though non-cloud infrastructure spending is still more than double that for cloud infrastructure spending).

Greg weighs in on the effect of virtual appliances on Barracuda Networks’ most recent earnings, and we pivot to the implications of Cisco’s investment in 6Wind, a French company that makes software to speed up applications.

Snarky things are said about the storage industry and private equity as we discuss EMC’s sale of Syncplicity, a file sync-and-share company EMC acquired in 2012; and Symantec’s anticipated sale of its Veritas storage division.

Finally, we discuss new OpenStack appliances from Mirantis. These converged systems bundle hardware from Dell and Juniper Networks with Mirantis’s OpenStack implementation to simplify consumption of the cloud software. We also consider whether converged infrastructure sales have peaked.

Thanks to Howard Marks, founder and Chief Scientist of consultancy DeepStorage.net, for waking up early to share his perspectives and punditry. If you want more Howard, check out his podcast GreyBeards On Storage. You can find links to all our topics below.

Sponsor: Sonus Networks

This week s show is sponsored by Sonus Networks. Sonus wants you to know that there is a better way to address business continuity with less cost, more flexibility, and increased management efficiency a Software-Defined WAN (SD-WAN) powered by Sonus NaaS IQ. Ensure you know the differences between SD WAN business connectivity and SD WAN business continuity; visit Sonus at www.sonus.net or reach them at 1-855-GO-SONUS and tell them you heard about them on PacketPushers.

Show Notes:

Cloud Infra Spend Rises, Non-Cloud Flat

Worldwide Cloud IT Infrastructure Market Grows by 25.1% in the First Quarter on Growing Demand for Public and Private Cloud IT Services, According to IDC – BusinessWire

…vendor revenue from sales of infrastructure products (server, storage, and Ethernet switch) for cloud IT, including public and private cloud, grew by 25.1% year over year to nearly $6.3 billion in the first quarter of 2015 (1Q15). This was the second highest growth in the five quarters in which IDC has tracked year-over-year revenue and the second largest in terms of total spending in nine quarters of tracking.

Worldwide Cloud IT Infrastructure Spending Forecast to Grow 26% Year Over Year in 2015, Driven by Public Cloud Datacenter Expansion – IDC

Private cloud IT infrastructure spending will grow by 16.8% year over year to $11.7 billion, while public cloud IT infrastructure spending will grow by 32.2% in 2015 to $21.7 billion. In comparison, spending on non-cloud IT infrastructure will remain flat at $67 billion.

Barracuda Takes A Hit From Virtual Appliance Sales

Barracuda Networks’ (CUDA) CEO BJ Jenkins on Q1 2016 Results – Earnings Call Transcript – Seeking Alpha

Our total billings in Q1 grew 8%, below what we had expected and impacted primarily by three factors; foreign currency headwinds, which were greater than anticipated, lower billings in our storage category, which I will describe in more detail later, and the overall trend towards more virtual and cloud products, as customers choose to take advantage of virtual and cloud infrastructures.”

EMC Sells File Sharing Product To Investment Firm

EMC sells its Syncplicity file sync and share business to private investment firm Skyview Capital – VentureBeat

Symantec To Sell Veritas?

Symantec Said to Near Deal to Sell Veritas Unit to Carlyle – Bloomberg

Cisco Invests In Networking Software Company 6Wind

Cisco Investments Invests In 6Wind For High-Performance Networking – PR Newswire

Cisco Deepens French Connection With 6Wind Investment – SDX Central

Mirantis Offers Integrated OpenStack Hardware

Mirantis Enters OpenStack Hardware Game With New Appliance – SDX Central

Mirantis Simplifies OpenStack Clouds with Turnkey Appliances – Mirantis

Compute and foundation nodes are based on performance optimized Dell® PowerEdge® R630 servers. Storage nodes are based on Dell PowerEdge R730xd with dual Intel® Xeon® E5-2600 CPUs and Intel® SSD-based cache optimized for high-performance storage. Mirantis OpenStack 6.1 provides the infrastructure foundation, and each rack includes two Juniper QFX5100s as the data path and one Juniper EX3300 for management.

Have Integrated System Sales Peaked Already? – The Platform