Cybernetics
Cybernetics is a privately held Virginia-based manufacturer founded in 1978 that designs and sells high-performance disk, tape, and virtual tape storage solutions — including SAN, VTL, and virtual tape drive products — primarily to US enterprise, government, defense, healthcare, and education buyers via direct field sales.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1978
- HeadquartersYorktown, United States
- Headcount101–250
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What Cybernetics does
Cybernetics is a privately held US corporation founded in 1978 and headquartered in Yorktown, Virginia, that designs and manufactures high-performance disk, tape, and virtual tape storage solutions. Its product portfolio centers on three core lines: the iSAN Series of Storage Area Networks (supporting all-flash, hybrid, and disk configurations with up to 1.2 GB/s transfer and 400,000 IOPS), the iTape v2104 Series of virtual tape drives (up to 750 MB/s, 1U rackmount, with optional 50:1 to 200:1 deduplication), and broader Virtual Tape Library (VTL) offerings that virtualize tape backup onto disk. Differentiated features include the proprietary vLock immutable retention capability for ransomware/malware protection, 256-bit AES hardware encryption, integrated snapshots and cloning, and certified compatibility with major backup software (BackupExec, ARCserve, CommVault, Tivoli, DPM), IBM i5/OS, and virtualization platforms (VMware, Citrix, XEN, Hyper-V). The company has historically been a first-mover in storage engineering, claiming industry firsts in hardware data compression on tape, hardware encryption on tape, virtual libraries in D2D2T backup, iSCSI tape drives/libraries, and status-communicating tape drives.
The company sells primarily through a direct enterprise field-sales motion with a consultation-based approach, supplemented by a small VAR/reseller channel. Pricing is not publicly listed; customers engage via phone, email, or scheduled appointment, and the company quotes per-unit, one-time/perpetual hardware pricing. A customer testimonial (Seamless Solutions) reports a 30% cost advantage over comparable Dell and EMC solutions, with setup completed in approximately 30 minutes. All products are backed by free lifetime telephone technical support. The customer base spans federal government agencies (Department of Defense, Department of Energy, Department of Justice, Department of the Navy, NASA, MIT Lincoln Laboratory), major defense contractors (Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon, General Dynamics, L-3 Communications), healthcare organizations (Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Abbott, Duke University Medical Center, Henry Ford Health Systems), financial services firms (Citibank, JP Morgan, Fidelity, Merrill Lynch, Ernst & Young), universities (Cornell, Johns Hopkins, Georgetown, Caltech, Baylor, Florida State, Rutgers, University of Virginia, Indiana University), and various Fortune 500 enterprises. The firm has 101–250 employees and remains privately held with no disclosed funding rounds, acquisitions, or parent company.
Cybernetics firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Cybernetics
- Legal name
- Cybernetics
- Website
- https://cybernetics.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1978
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 101–250 employees
- Short description
- Cybernetics is a privately held Virginia-based manufacturer founded in 1978 that designs and sells high-performance disk, tape, and virtual tape storage solutions — including SAN, VTL, and virtual tape drive products — primarily to US enterprise, government, defense, healthcare, and education buyers via direct field sales.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Cybernetics industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Enterprise Data Storage Hardware
- NAICS
- Computer Storage Device Manufacturing (334112)
- SIC
- Computer Storage Devices (3572)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Data Protection & Backup Appliances (Backup Targets, Dedup Appliances) (HDACACAI)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Immutable Backup, Air-Gap & Ransomware Recovery (HDABAIAJ), Data Protection & Archiving (WORM, Long-Term Retention) (HDABAEAH)
Keywords
Where Cybernetics is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Yorktown
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Cybernetics business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Storage Hardware Sales: Sale of physical storage hardware including SAN storage systems, virtual tape libraries, and tape drives. Products are sold with free telephone technical support included for the lifetime of the product ownership.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Unit Pricing | One time/ perpetual license | Entry-level SAN storage solution |
| Unit Pricing | One time/ perpetual license | Enterprise-level SAN storage solution |
| Unit Pricing | One time/ perpetual license | iTape v2104 Virtual Tape Drive |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels2 records
Marketing channels2 records
Cybernetics product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Cybernetics designs and manufactures high-performance disk, tape, and virtual tape storage solutions, including Storage Area Networks (iSAN Series), Virtual Tape Drives (iTape v2104 Series), and Virtual Tape Libraries (VTL). The products target enterprise data backup, archival, and disaster recovery, featuring hardware encryption, deduplication, immutable retention, and compatibility with major backup software and virtualization platforms. Solutions are sold as perpetual hardware units backed by free lifetime telephone technical support.
Product overview
Cybernetics offers a portfolio of storage solutions centered around intelligent data protection. The core product lines include the iSAN Series (Storage Area Networks), the iTape v2104 Series (Virtual Tape Drives), and Virtual Tape Libraries (VTL), all designed to work together for comprehensive backup and recovery. The iSAN provides high-performance primary storage with data protection features, while the iTape and VTL products virtualize tape backup processes for faster restores and easier management. Cloud-Ready Machines extend the portfolio for organizations adopting cloud backup strategies. Key differentiators include free lifetime telephone technical support, decades of engineering focus on storage since 1978, and solutions available in all-flash, hybrid, and traditional configurations.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- iTape: Virtual tape drives product line, including the iTape v2104 series featuring four disk bay virtual tape drives designed to reduce backup windows and increase restore speeds.
- iSAN
- VTL
- vLock
Products and services
- iSAN Series Storage Area Networks High-performance Storage Area Network (SAN) solutions for virtual environments and businesses seeking maximum performance and protection. Features include 256-bit AES encryption, snapshots, cloning, scale-up performance via controller upgrades, and scale-out capacity via expansion cabinets. Supports Windows, Linux, Unix, Netware, and OSx and is certified for VMware, Citrix, XEN, and Hyper-V. Enterprise models deliver up to 1.2 GB/s and 400,000 IOPS; entry-level models deliver up to 500 MB/s and 150,000 IOPS.
- iTape v2104 Series Virtual Tape Drives 1U rackmount virtual tape drives with four disk bays designed to reduce backup windows and accelerate restores versus physical tape. Supports up to 750 MB/s transfer rates, SATA/SAS/SSD media, RAID 0/5/6/10, hardware encryption, physical tape offload, replication, and optional deduplication at 50:1 to 200:1. Provides 100% compatibility with BackupExec, ARCserve, CommVault, Tivoli, Microsoft DPM, and native IBM i5/OS commands.
- Virtual Tape Libraries (VTL) Disk-based backup appliances that virtualize tape backup to eliminate physical tape handling while preserving tape security and workflow. Designed to remove the operational challenges of archiving and protecting valuable data, and used as the foundation for Air Gap Archives without tape.
- Cloud-Ready Machines Storage appliances that protect company data using single or multi-layered approaches for storing backups and archives, intended for organizations adopting cloud backup strategies and remote-workforce data protection.
Quantifiable outcome
- Up to 1.2 GB/s transfer rates and 400,000 IOPS for enterprise SAN solutions
- +6 more outcomes
Companies that use Cybernetics
Customer profileNamed customers60 records
Segments6 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Cybernetics technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration10 records
Feature9 records
Cybernetics partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators2 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Cybernetics competitors and assessment
Company assessmentEmerging players
- Cohesity: Cohesity is a modern, hyperconverged secondary-storage and data-protection platform competing for the same ransomware-resilient, immutable-backup workloads that vLock targets, but delivered as scale-out software rather than on-prem hardware appliances.
- Rubrik: Rubrik is a cloud-native data protection and ransomware recovery platform. It represents the structural shift toward SaaS-delivered backup that competes with Cybernetics' on-prem SAN/VTL approach, particularly for enterprises modernizing backup architectures.
Direct peers
- Pure Storage: Pure Storage's all-flash SAN platforms compete with Cybernetics' iSAN Series in performance-sensitive enterprise workloads, particularly virtualized and VMware-centric environments.
- ExaGrid: ExaGrid provides disk-based backup appliances with built-in deduplication and ransomware recovery features, directly competing with Cybernetics' SAN and VTL appliances in the SMB and mid-market backup appliance segment.
- Barracuda Networks: Barracuda provides backup appliances and cloud-integrated data protection, overlapping with Cybernetics' smaller-footprint SAN and backup appliance offerings in the SMB segment.
- Quantum Corporation: Quantum is a direct competitor in tape backup and virtual tape libraries (VTL), historically one of the closest comps to Cybernetics' iTape and VTL product lines. Both companies serve enterprise and government customers with hybrid disk-and-tape archive architectures.
Broad incumbents
- NetApp: NetApp is a major enterprise SAN/NAS incumbent with growing data-protection capabilities. Cybernetics' iSAN targets the same primary-storage-with-protection use cases, particularly in mid-market and federal deployments.
- HPE (Hewlett Packard Enterprise) Storage: HPE Storage offers enterprise SAN (MSA, Primera/Alletra) and tape/backup infrastructure, competing with Cybernetics in enterprise and government accounts. HPE is also a listed Cybernetics customer.
- Dell Technologies (Dell EMC Storage): Dell EMC is the dominant enterprise SAN and data-protection incumbent. Cybernetics competes directly against Dell EMC SAN and Data Domain backup appliances, with documented customer savings of 30% versus Dell/EMC serving as the core price comparator in Cybernetics' own sales motion.
- IBM Storage: IBM offers enterprise SAN and tape backup solutions (including TS series and FlashSystem) and is a named competitor for tape virtualization. IBM is also a Cybernetics customer, illustrating the overlap between Cybernetics' installed base and IBM's broader storage portfolio.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Cybernetics social profiles
Digital presenceCybernetics financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Cybernetics leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Cybernetics funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Cybernetics M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Cybernetics
What does Cybernetics do?
Cybernetics designs and manufactures high-performance disk, tape, and virtual tape storage solutions, including Storage Area Networks (iSAN Series), Virtual Tape Drives (iTape v2104 Series), and Virtual Tape Libraries (VTL). The products target enterprise data backup, archival, and disaster recovery, featuring hardware encryption, deduplication, immutable retention, and compatibility with major backup software and virtualization platforms. Solutions are sold as perpetual hardware units backed by free lifetime telephone technical support.
Is Cybernetics a public or private company?
Cybernetics is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Cybernetics founded?
Cybernetics was founded in 1978. It employs 101 to 250 people.
Where is Cybernetics based?
Cybernetics is headquartered in Yorktown, United States, in the North America region.
How does Cybernetics make money?
One revenue line is on record: storage Hardware Sales.
Who are Cybernetics's main competitors?
Emerging players on record are Cohesity and Rubrik. Direct peers are Pure Storage, ExaGrid, Barracuda Networks and Quantum Corporation. Broad incumbents are NetApp, HPE (Hewlett Packard Enterprise) Storage, Dell Technologies (Dell EMC Storage) and IBM Storage.
Does Cybernetics have an API?
No public API is recorded for Cybernetics.
What industry is Cybernetics in?
Cybernetics's product category is Enterprise Data Storage Hardware. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDACACAI, Data Protection & Backup Appliances (Backup Targets, Dedup Appliances), with a secondary code of HDABAIAJ, Immutable Backup, Air-Gap & Ransomware Recovery. Its NAICS code is 334112 and its SIC code is 3572.