Cisco Systems Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) announced plans to purchase Springpath, a hyper-convergence startup, for $320 million and equity awards.

With the acquisition of Springpath, Cisco plans to revolutionize the data center through its innovative Springpath data platform. The Springpath team will join Cisco's Computing Systems Product Group led by Liz Centoni. The acquisition is expected to come by the first quarter of the 2018 fiscal year.

"This acquisition is a meaningful addition to our data center portfolio and aligns with our overall transition to providing more software-centric solutions," said Rob Salvagno, Cisco's VP of business development.

"Springpath's file system technology was built specifically for hyperconvergence, which we believe will deliver sustainable differentiation in this fast-growing segment. I'm excited to be able to provide our customers and partners with the simplicity and agility they need in data center innovation." added Salvagno.

Springpath is well known for its development of a distributed file system for hyperconvergence that enables server-based storage systems.

Cisco and Springpath have been working together for the past few years on HyperFlex, what Cisco calls the first fully integrated hyperconverged infrastructure system. The HyperFlex products provides customers with the convenience and benefit of getting all the software and hardware from a single vendor.

Hyperconverged infrastructure is projected to be a $6 billion opportunity by 2020 according to IDC, and is the fastest growing segment in the data center space. With the merging of the two companies, Cisco hopes to accelerate hyperconvergence business growth.