RainStor
| File:RainStor logo.png | |
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Information Technology, Software |
| Founded | Established as Clearpace in 2002; Rebranded as RainStor in 2009 |
| Founders |
|
| Fate | Acquired by Teradata |
| Headquarters | , |
| Website | www |
RainStor was a firm specializing in software development, focusing on a database management system tailored for big data storage and analysis. The technology originated from a UK Ministry of Defence initiative aimed at handling extensive operational data sets for analytical and training purposes.
The company was headquartered in San Francisco, California, with research and development operations based in Gloucester, UK. RainStor primarily served enterprise clients seeking scalable solutions for large-scale data storage. It attracted considerable venture capital, including a $12 million Series C investment led by Credit Suisse and Rogers Venture Partners.
In 2014, RainStor was acquired by Teradata, a prominent entity in data analytics and warehousing. Teradata incorporated RainStor's technology into its offerings but discontinued the product line by the end of 2016.
History
Founded in 2002 under the name Clearpace in the United Kingdom, RainStor commercialized big data storage technology initially developed by the UK Ministry of Defence under the DeX project. By 2008, this technology was rebranded as NParchive, focusing on deduplication and archiving of infrequently accessed data.
The transition to the RainStor name (relational archiving infrastructure storage) occurred in December 2009, coinciding with relocating executive leadership to San Francisco. This change aligned with the launch of RainStor version 3.5 in May 2009. In March 2010, the company secured $7.5 million in venture capital from investors including Storm Ventures, Doughty Hanson Technology Ventures, Informatica, and The Dow Chemical Company.
RainStor received multiple marketing accolades during 2011. By October 2012, it raised an additional $12 million from investors such as Credit Suisse, Doughty Hanson Technology Ventures, Storm Ventures, Dow Chemical, and Rogers Venture Partners. At that point, RainStor supported over 100 clients spanning government agencies, telecommunications providers, and financial institutions. The company's acquisition by Teradata took place in 2014.
Product
RainStor's software enabled querying and analysis of massive volumes of machine-generated data while providing an online archive solution tailored to regulatory compliance requirements for data retention.
By October 2012, the company held two granted patents and had five patent applications pending. Its database architecture combined row and columnar storage methods, allowing archived data to be accessed through SQL. The platform incorporated partition filtering techniques to exclude specific records during processing.
Operating on Apache Hadoop, RainStor version 5.5 released in June 2013 introduced features such as user authentication, access control mechanisms, encryption capabilities, and audit logging. In May 2014, enhancements were made to strengthen defenses against data tampering, cyberattacks, unauthorized access, and deletion.
Following Teradata's decision to retire the RainStor product line in December 2016, all development and marketing efforts were discontinued.