Rackable Will Rebrand as SGI

sgi-logo

The logo for the new SGI, formerly known as Rackable Systems.

Rackable Systems (RACK) has completed its acquisition of the former Silicon Graphics Inc. and will adopt SGI as its new name, the company said today. The decision by Rackable management to adopt the SGI moniker is a sign that it believes that the Silicon Graphics name still has mojo in the marketplace.

Rackable Systems president and CEO Mark Barrenechea will hold the same positions in the "new" SGI, and the Rackable Systems board of directors remains unchanged. The company will continue to use RACK as its stock symbol. Rackable got clearance from bankruptcy court on April 30 to acquire the assets of Silicon Graphics for $42.5 million in cash, and closed the transaction on May 8.

Silicon Graphics was founded in 1981 and gained prominence in supercomputing and 3D graphics. SGI machines were used to create special effects in numerous Hollywood spectacles in the 1990s, making on-screen appearances in Jurassic Park and Twister (See the SGIstuff site for more details).

"Our corporate name will be Silicon Graphics International, but from a marketing and branding perspective, we will be referred to as SGI," Barrenechea wrote in a letter to customers. "The Rackable name will become the brand for the SGI x86 cluster compute products. Rackable will join our other industry-recognized brands – such as ICE Cube, Altix, InfiniteStorage, CloudRack, MicroSlice, Origin, and VUE – to comprise the new SGI."

The company said it expects customers to benefit from its expanded portfolio of products for medium and large-scale data centers and high-performance computing (HPC). The new SGI will have a more than 5,000 customers in 25 countries and approximately 1,350 employees worldwide. SGI will maintain its corporate headquarters in Rackable's current Fremont, California facility.