Sun founder and architect quits

gallery

Andreas von Bechtolsheim, one of the co-founders of Sun Microsystems and its chief architect, is to step away from the firm to work at a new firm.

According to a report in the New York Times, Bectolsheim is set to be named as chairman and chief development officer of Arista Networks. That startup has also recruited Jayshree Ullal from Cisco in May to act as chief executive, the newspaper said.

Arista produces an super-fast network switch for data-intensive, speed-hungry companies – but for a tenth of the price of Cisco's.

“My iPhone runs better software than a typical switch,” Bechtolsheim told the New York Times. "It is just mind-boggling that the cheapest consumer product has more robust software than what the internet runs on."

Despite his departure, Bechtolsheim said he would still have a part-time role at the company he helped found in 1982. “It’s my baby,” Bechtolsheim said. “I will always be associated with Sun.”

Sun Microsystems did not return request for comment at the time of publication.

Email to a friend

Print this page