SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Brocade (NASDAQ: BRCD) today announced that it will acquire privately held Vyatta in an all-cash transaction. Vyatta is based in Belmont, Calif. and is a networking industry innovator through its software-based network operating system that is highly relevant for multiple applications in network virtualization, software-defined networking (SDN) and private/public cloud computing platforms.Brocade expects to close the acquisition by the end of the calendar year.

"This acquisition complements our R&D investments in Ethernet fabrics and SDN, as well as our broad industry and solutions-level partnerships that enable Brocade to pursue new market opportunities in data center virtualization, public cloud, enterprise virtual private cloud, and managed services," said Mike Klayko, CEO of Brocade. "We are now bolstering these 'build and partner' efforts with this strategic acquisition with the goal of being the innovation and thought leader in the software networking category."

Brocade Communications Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: BRCD)