Bright Computing raises $14.5M to expand services for Linux cluster management

Bright Computing, which helps companies manage Linux clusters, has picked up $14.5 million in Series B funding.

The funding is an indication of how much demand there is, in modern corporate computing environments, for clusters of servers that can grow to include hundreds or even thousands of nodes. That’s because of the increased popularity of Hadoop and other clustered storage technologies, which help companies store enormous quantities of often unstructured data on cheap commodity servers, rather than the more-expensive storage area networks and dedicated storage hardware that an earlier generation of data center architects preferred.

That architectural shift appears to be benefitting Bright Computing, even though, as CEO Matthijs van Leeuwen noted in a blog post, “Bright is in markets as competitive as we’ve ever been, especially in the big data Hadoop and OpenStack private cloud spaces.”

The company claims that its software makes Linux clusters extremely easy to manage, even for non-Linux experts — which is probably an exaggeration, given that even “non-expert” IT managers who are responsible for Linux clusters probably have a nontrivial amount of domain knowledge already.

The company’s software usually “competes with DIY projects cobbled together by a company’s own people using with open source software and tools,” GigaOm notes, as well as with management software provided by hardware manufacturers.

Founded in 2009, Bright says it now has more than 400 customers worldwide, including 20 in the Fortune 500. The backers include Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ) and DFJ Esprit, with participation from Prime Ventures and existing shareholder ING Corporate Investments. This brings the company’s total money raised to $17.5 million.

Read more on the Bright Computing blog.