Digital Island wins
Bloomberg News
two big investorsSAN FRANCISCO -- Digital Island Inc. said Sun Microsystems Inc. will invest $20 million in the company and Inktomi Corp. will invest $6 million to help it expand its Internet data network.
Shares of Digital Island, whose private network is used by businesses to speed the delivery of data on the Web, surged $45.31, or 65 percent, to $114.95 in late trading. Earlier, the shares reached as high as $133.12.
Digital Island said it will use as many as 5,000 Sun Microsystems computer servers to extend its system. Those servers will be equipped with Inktomi's caching software, which lets companies store information at various points on computer networks to speed up Internet searches.
The companies will locate the servers, which are powerful corporate computers, on data networks across the world. Digital Island and rivals such as Akamai Technologies Inc. hope to profit from increasing demand for speedier Internet content.
Digital Island is based in San Francisco but had its headquarters in Honolulu from 1996 until this year. The company developed its Internet business while here.
Digital Island said it expects to invest $150 million to extend its network.
The company in October agreed to buy closely held Sandpiper Networks Inc., which uses computers and software to speed the delivery of images and other content through the Internet and corporate networks.
