RLX Technologies was a computer company based in

The Woodlands, Texas The Woodlands is a Special district (United States), special-purpose district and census-designated place (CDP) in the U.S. state of Texas in the Greater Houston, Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan statistical area. The Woodlands ...

. Founded in 1999 by

Christopher Hipp Christopher G. Hipp (August 6, 1961 – July 14, 2009) was an American inventor and serial entrepreneur who received a patent for his invention of the blade server, a compact, stripped-down computer server that includes all of the necessary comp ...

, one of the inventors of the blade server, and former

Compaq Compaq Computer Corporation was an American information technology, information technology company founded in 1982 that developed, sold, and supported computers and related products and services. Compaq produced some of the first IBM PC compati ...

employees, the company pioneered the use of

blade server A blade server is a stripped-down server computer with a modular design optimized to minimize the use of physical space and energy. Blade servers have many components removed to save space, minimize power consumption and other considerations, wh ...

s, a compact, stripped-down

computer server A server is a computer that provides information to other computers called " clients" on a computer network. This architecture is called the client–server model. Servers can provide various functionalities, often called "services", such as sh ...

that includes all of the necessary components to operate as a computer while taking up minimal space on a standard

19-inch rack A 19-inch rack is a standardized frame or enclosure for mounting multiple electronic equipment modules. Each module has a front panel that is wide. The 19 inch dimension includes the edges or ''ears'' that protrude from each side of the ...

and minimizing power consumption. It became part of

Hewlett-Packard The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company. It was founded by Bill Hewlett and David Packard in 1939 in a one-car garage in Palo Alto, California ...

in 2005.

History

RLX was first founded in 1999 as RocketLogix, Inc. with a connection to a Dallas-based investment firm, Cracken, Harkey & Co. After Hipp convinced the firm that there was a need for a new efficient web server concept, they agreed to build an investment profile for RocketLogix. Former

executives helped to raise money, including

Rod Canion Joseph Rodney "Rod" Canion (born January 19, 1945) is an American computer scientist and businessman who co-founded Compaq Computer Corporation in 1982 and served as its first President and CEO. Biography A native of Houston, Canion graduated fr ...

(founder and CEO of Compaq) and Robert W. Stearns (former Compaq SVP of Corporate Development, now at venture capitalist firm Sternhill Partners). After development of their blade architecture, the company changed its name in 2001 to RLX Technologies. This change coincided with the company's move to The Woodlands. Former

executives Gary Stimac and Michael S. Swavely became CEO and President of RLX, respectively. In 2004 RLX decided to shift their focus away from hardware development and focus their efforts solely on their blade server management system, Control Tower. This shift was necessitated by a decline in the server market, largely due to the dotcom gloom. Christopher Hipp and David Kirkeby applied for a patent on their design on July 20, 2000, and the

United States Patent and Trademark Office The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is an List of federal agencies in the United States, agency in the United States Department of Commerce, U.S. Department of Commerce that serves as the national patent office and trademark ...

awarded patent 6411506 for a "High density web server chassis system and method" on June 25, 2002. After 5 years of operation, RLX was bought by

in October 2005.Zarley, Craig
"HP Will Acquire RLX To Bolster Blades"
''

InformationWeek ''InformationWeek'' is a digital magazine which conducts corresponding face-to-face events, virtual events, and research. It is headquartered in San Francisco, California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United State ...

'', October 3, 2005. Accessed July 17, 2009.

References

{{Reflist 1999 establishments in Texas 2005 disestablishments in Texas 2005 mergers and acquisitions American companies established in 1999 American companies disestablished in 2005 Computer companies established in 1999 Computer companies disestablished in 2005 Defunct computer companies of the United States Defunct computer hardware companies Defunct software companies of the United States Hewlett-Packard acquisitions Software companies established in 1999 Software companies disestablished in 2005