Brocade Communications Systems Inc., dominant in an obscure corner of the documents storage market, wants a piece of a bigger pie: Cisco Systems Inc.’s cash cow business of networking equipment that shuttles Web traffic.

San Jose-based Brocade said Monday it has agreed to pay $3 billion to acquire one of Cisco’s much-smaller competitors, Foundry Networks Inc., to try and manufacture that happen.

The proposed acquisition would meld two companies with presence deep in the documents center and pose a direct

challenge to Cisco, which at $29 billion in annual sales is the world’s leader in Web networking equipment.

Surging Net traffic, particularly in bandwidth-hogging video, has driven intense demand for the routers and switches that direct Web traffic, Cisco’s home turf. That’s plus lifted the fortunes of Cisco’s smaller rivals, including Santa Clara-based Foundry Networks, which specializes in high-end networking gear, making them appealing takeover targets.

Brocade wants Foundry Networks considering Brocade’s […]

Orginal post by Top Tech News