Unisphere Networks

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Unisphere Networks was a networking equipment manufacturer founded in 1998 and later acquired by Juniper Networks in June of 2002. Unisphere was initially comprised of three other key networking equipment manufacturers:

Redstone Communications - Specialized in edge-routing and BRAS technology. Their flagship product, the ERX-series, competed against Cisco's 10000 and 7500 series routers as well as the Redback Networks SMS platform. The ERX was the main compelling reason why Juniper acquired Unisphere in 2002.^{[citation needed]}
Argon Networks - Specialized in core-routing technology meant to compete with Cisco's GSR and Juniper's M-series and T-series. The Argon product never made it out of R&D and the project was dropped with the acquisition by Juniper.
Castle Networks - Specialized in voice-mediation and softswitch technologies. The Castle Networks softswitch design was based upon Siemens Reliable Telco Platform (RTP). This application allowed the softswitch to be installed on a cluster of Sun Solaris-based servers to increase uptime. While the Castle Networks technology was fairly successful and deployed in various fashions by different carriers across the US, voice mediation was never Juniper's core competency and therefore this technology was sold to Siemens in June of 2002.

The genesis of Unisphere came through the ingenuity of the founder and CEO, James Dolce, who structured a deal with Siemens AG to fund and therefore hold a majority stake in Unisphere Solutions. It is rumored that Siemens spent about $1 billion for the acquisition of all three companies as well as an additional $250 million more over the 4 year life of Unisphere to keep operations going. It is not clear if Unisphere ever actually operated in the black and because the company never went public, the truth behind the numbers will likely remain a mystery. The name was changed from Unisphere Solutions to Unisphere Networks in late 2000 as the company prepared for a possible 2001 IPO but they were never quite able to execute upon this vision, likely due at least in part to the technology recession that began in April 2000.

The only surviving product from Unisphere is the ERX line, still in production by Juniper.