|
John Groves began his software development career in the mid
1980s, developing a specialization in device driver, kernel and
interface protocol software. In the late 1980s, Mr. Groves
developed FIPS-60 (IBM mainframe) I/O channel interface firmware
for KMW Systems. One of Mr. Groves' products was a tape drive
control unit that attached Exabyte 8mm tape drives to the
mainframe I/O channel. Mr. Groves sometimes claims to be the
youngest person to have coded a control unit emulation for the
"channel", which is probably true. In the early 1990s Mr. Groves moved
on to higher performance
interfaces, developing the firmware and host bus adapter (HBA)
device driver for IBM's HIPPI (High Performance Parallel
Interface) host bus adapter. A precursor to the
fibre channel interface and protocol, HIPPI ran at 100MB per
second.
In early 1992, Mr. Groves founded Open Microsystems
Incorporated to provide custom software development services,
primarily in the area of device driver development, for hardware
and software vendors around the world. At the helm of Open
Microsystems, Mr. Groves developed a stellar reputation as both
a technologist and a reliable source for critical software
components, both as contractor and licensor. Although
technical accomplishments during the Open Microsystems era are
too numerous to list, refer to the Customers and Services pages
for a taste. Mr. Groves maintained a highly active
technical role while building a management team and growing the
business.
Peaking at about 50 employees, Open Microsystems was acquired
by Gresham Computing in 1998. Mr. Groves remained as
CEO and CTO of the acquired entity, renamed Gresham Enterprise
Storage in 1999, until 2001.
Mr. Groves holds a BS in Physics from Northern
Illinois University.
|
 |
