Emulex Corp. Executive Chairman Paul Folino has joined the board of Irvine’s Solarflare Communications Inc., a maker of networking chips and one of the county’s best-funded startups.
Folino, who grew Costa Mesa-based Emulex into a major player in electronics for data storage networks, is seen helping Solarflare as its looks to generate more sales.
In April, Solarflare acquired Sunnyvale-based Level 5 Networks Inc., a designer of software and Ethernet network interface cards and chip devices for servers.
The deal included an undisclosed round of funding for Solarflare, which has raised about $80 million since 2001.
Solarflare makes chips for switches, devices that direct the flow of data on a network.
The chips are designed to make smaller-capacity networks interact with heftier ones at data transfer speeds of about 10 gigabits per second, much faster than the standard two gigabits per second. That allows businesses to upgrade, rather than replace, networks.
Folino has more time to serve as a Solarflare director after handing over Emulex chief executive duties to James McCluney in September.
