Western Telematic headquarters in Irvine, California | |
Type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | Computer network, Technology management, Out-of-band management |
Founded | 1964 |
Founder | Herbert Hoover III David Morrison Irving Ross |
Headquarters | Irvine, California |
Key people | Daniel Morrison (CEO) |
Products | Computer hardware |
Website | www |
Western Telematic, Inc., also known as WTI, is a global designer and manufacturer of IT infrastructure and computer network hardware located in Irvine, California.[1][2][3]
Western Telematic Inc. was founded in Arcadia, California in 1964 by Irving Ross, David Morrison and Herbert "Pete" Hoover III.[4] The company was formed with a vision that data would be transmitted over phone lines so businesses could share information. In 1968 Western Telematic won an IBM contract to design and build a four-channel coms device for the IBM 1130.[5] The product designed for IBM was the WTI TM150 which transmitted data to the IBM1130 from remote input/output terminals to allow businesses to share a single computer between employees.[6][7]
In 1974 Western Telematic was contracted by the FBI to streamline communications between field agents.[8] A device manufactured by Western Telematic was a magnetic card from IBM Selectric typewriter, translate it to teletype code and make punched tape used to send encrypted messages. David Morrison became corporate president of Western Telematic in 1975 until retiring in 2008. Western Telematic under David Morrison became a global leader in remote network management. In 1982 Western Telematic created one of the first console servers to allow remote access to multiple RS-232 devices.[9] In 1984 Western Telematic released the IP PBX data storage product line PollCat. The PollCat was utilized to mitigate toll fraud on corporate phone lines. In 1987 Western Telematic relocated to a 25,000 square foot facility in Irvine, California.[10] In that same year the Lasernet was released which allowed up to eight users to share any two printers or plotters.[11][12][13]
Cisco Systems chose Western Telematic as one of the prime vendors to showcase their products at the annual Cisco Live exposition in 2010.[14] The RSM-8R8 series was released in 2010 which incorporates console switch, remote reboot and automatic transfer switch capabilities in a single 1U device.[15] Western Telematic assisted SpaceX in 2016 with the Falcon 9 rocket landings. The control mission critical infrastructure on the autonomous spaceport drone ships were controlled by Western Telematic.[16] In 2017 the first Power distribution unit to deliver remote power management with an AC powered control relay switch over internal 4G LTE was created by Western Telematic. On September 5, 2018 co-founder David Morrison died in a plane crash near Jean, Nevada.[17]
Western Telematic Inc. designs and manufactures remote console management and power management solutions for global network locations and data centers. WTI's products includes Serial Console Servers, RJ45 A/B Fallback Switches, PDUs for remote power distribution, metering, reporting and control, and Automatic Power Transfer Switches.[18][19][20] Computer hardware designed by WTI assist network administrators manage complex network environments from any location. Products manufactured by Western Telematic includes modems, adapters, cables, console servers and PDUs. System administrators can utilize this technology to manage and troubleshoot various network devices from anywhere.[21][22] Security and authentication features in Western Telematic products can help network devices to remain secure.[23] Ken Partridge created RESTful APIs to connect and manage Western Telematic products, one of which, is able to shut down a network device and alarm if temperature rises past a pre-determined threshold that will cause power supply failure. For his research and developmental efforts, Mr. Partridge was awarded Cisco's DevNet Creator award.[24][25][26]
Out-of-band management automation features have been utilized by Western Telematic since 2019 by integrating with power management solutions into network automation and telemetric data applications using DevOps.[27]