For the past two weeks, Dell and HP have been in a bidding war to acquire utility storage company 3PAR. And things continue to heat up: Dell raised its purchase price to US$27 per share yesterday, but just this morning, HP surpassed that by offering US$30 per share.

Never before has the "cloud" been so important in the information technology (IT) world. Based in Fremont, CA, 3PAR builds tiered storage arrays that can be used in both public and private cloud computing. The concept behind "cloud" computing is the ability to store files and data in a remote "cloud" via the Web, thus allowing it to be accessed from virtually anywhere. Think of Microsoft's Hotmail service as the most basic form of cloud computing.

"Utility storage enables IT organizations to treat storage as if it were a utility," explains the company's Website, "by enabling them to use and pay for only the storage capacity they need, and only when they actually use it."

The company has seen its platforms inmplemented in a number of large and medium-sized enterprise ventures. In the Web world, 3PAR clients most consumers will be familiar with include names like MySpace, Tickets.com, Priceline.com, and Shopzilla.

Dell's purchase price would equate to a whopping US$1.8 billion. If HP's bid goes through, the valuation of 3PAR will have reached US$2 billion.

Dell says that acquiring 3PAR will help enhance the company's position in utility storage, and will help to accelerate 3PAR's growth due to Dell's global brand reach.

Regardless of which company emerges victorious, the transaction should close by the end of the year.

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