RapidScale Clusters LLC was founded in 2008 to bring simple high availability and rapid scalability to linux clustering.
Our technology has been under development since 2005. As Linux in the datacenter gained momentum, we worked harder and faster to bring our software to market. Since then we have written over 27,000 lines of code and created tremendous value for our customers by distilling many core Linux cluster functions into a single platform with enterprise support. Now, for the first time, we are happy to announce the general availability of ClusterMaker! Contact us today for your free trial installation.
Founding Partners
Jonathan Sacks
Jonathan Sacks is a serial entrepreneur who has founded and operated eight local companies in the medical software and hardware, software services, software products, aviation, and automotive sectors since 1980. He has been involved in 11 M&A transactions and as a private investor, Mr. Sacks has helped fund the launch of several technology startups including Cerebral Assessment Systems (in partnership with University of Rochester Medical Center) and SimPore (in partnership with the
In 1993, Sacks purchased 50% of Millennium computer and as CEO, took the company from 3 employees and $450k of revenue to 80 employees and $12MM of revenue, landing on the Inc. 500 in 1995, 1996, and 1997. In 1997 Mr. Sacks sold Millennium to Metamor and was retained as a Division President. Over the next 2 years Sacks purchased 4 competing companies and consolidated them into his division. In 1999 Sacks took his division private in a $98MM LBO, backed by GTCR and a syndicate of 4 banks led by First Union. Sacks rebranded the company as Vanteon and grew the company to 450 employees and $65MM in revenue, distributed across 9 locations nationwide.
Sacks retired from Vanteon in 2001. Since then, Jonathan has flown regular volunteer missions for Angel Flight NE and has served on the board of two
Robert Lennon
Robert Lennon brings more 15 years of financial management, strategic development, and operations experience in his role with RapidScale. He is currently the CEO and President of SANDirect, an industry leader in providing data warehousing solutions for enterprise companies. He is responsible for strategic direction, overseeing implementation of new products and services, and development of a strong management team.
Prior to joining SANDirect, Robert spent three years as Chief Financial Officer of European operations for ACN, Inc. As CFO, Robert was responsible for ACN Europe’s financial strategy and day-to-day financial and accounting operations. While at ACN, Robert was a member the senior advisory committee which was charged with designing, developing, and implementing a VoIP network product. A large portion of the design was a fully customized software package created to include a customer self service portal, back office CRM, and full billing services. The product and its supporting systems was launched successfully in 17 countries and is now the premier telephony product for ACN Europe. Robert joined ACN as the global treasurer, with responsibility for worldwide treasury and investment operations, financing, and mergers and acquisitions.
Robert came to ACN from World Kitchen, Inc., an international manufacturing corporation. While with WKI, Robert chaired a committee created to develop the company’s strategic vision. The new strategy lead to the successful rebranding of one of the company’s major product lines. He was previously the director of treasury for Concert Communications, a $7 billion multinational telecom firm. Robert earned his Bachelors of Science in Finance at Clemson University.
Joel Reiser
Joel Reiser holds an EE/ScB 1982 from Brown University, earning the first-ever degree in Computer Engineering from the Ivy League school. While taking engineering he latched on to Computer Science, and began avidly learning C and Unix day and night in 1979, which became his passion for the next 3 decades. Reiser quit his conventional software engineering jobs after 3 years working for midsized companies and started Millennium Computer in 1985. Correctly reading the trend towards then-new PC and Macintosh platforms and the need for inter-operability, he was ready and waiting when the world started to catch on.
Reiser has worked on thousands of C and C++ programs spanning decades. The list of successes is too long to summarize, but includes large and/or numerous software projects for Hewlett Packard, Eastman Kodak, WordPerfect, US FBI, Corel, Xerox PARC, Apple Computer, Claris, Microsoft, Ashton Tate, Caere, Quark, IBM, IBM Open Systems Center, State of Michigan, Ernst & Young, Selectronics, Spyglass, Hong Kong Telecom and many more. In an age when most programmers want to write new code, his enthusiasm for debugging and reusing existing code has made him very much in demand.
Reiser was initially CEO and President of Millennium. He brought in Jonathan Sacks as a full partner to scale the business model. The pair built a large, profitable, and highly successful organization that was acquired by Metamor of Houston TX in the mid 1990's. Reiser's career with the organization spanned over 15 years, and he is still a stockholder in Vanteon a further 10 years later. During his tenure Reiser ran the Advanced Development group which catalyzed the efforts of a larger "core engineering group". His AD group were the best and brightest, and were responsible for mentoring and monitoring, prototyping, framing, and final debugging of software developed by nearly a hundred others. Reiser also has significant experience in QC & QA. This package of leveraged skills resulted in Kodak KECP certification, a "high CMM" recognition of large scale Capability Maturity Model software engineering excellence much like an ISO 9000/9001 M.O.
Reiser is also an accomplished Porsche technician, PCA National Technical Expert, Race track driving instructor, and race driver. His scope here includes rebuilding and redesigning engines and transmissions, suspension & brake systems, aerodynamics, thermal management, radio & electronics, sensors & data collection, and real-time systems. His passion for continuously learning how things really work and fail and his attention to detail are known across and outside the US Canada.
CHRISTOPHER HAWKINS
Christopher Hawkins began his career in computer network design in 1998. He gained significant experience with all common types of local and wide area networks, authentication systems and security models, and client / server programs. Early in his consulting practice he earned many certifications and awards for excellence from Microsoft, Cisco, and Citrix, but he eventually moved away from these industry giants in favor of a new upstart technology.
The emerging Linux operating system and solutions from the open source community allowed him to deliver more value to his customers than ever before. Over the next ten years Mr. Hawkins specialized in the Linux operating system and its application to solving business problems. He gained valuable expertise with common Linux deployments, including email servers, file and print servers, web services, and VPN, firewall, and network security appliances. During this time he personally provided technology consulting and services to over a hundred companies across New York State
Above all, his strength was building comprehensive Linux high availabillity solutions that created maximum business value for the customer. This skill set was very uncommon, and as demand for his services grew Mr. Hawkins felt that the enterprise Linux market was incomplete without a standardized way to deliver these solutions more effectively. He co-founded RapidScale Clusters to help create software that can replace hundreds of hours of consulting in situations where typical highly available and highly scalable Linux clusters are needed. He serves that company today as Chief Technology Officer and sales evangelist.
Location
We are headquartered in Western New York in the United States. As we expand our market and geographic presence, we look forward to providing our software to Linux shops all over the world.