EMC, one of the world’s leading data storage providers, has reportedly bought Israeli startup ScaleIO for US$ 200 million. Numerous media reports say the American company targeted the Israeli company’s ECS software, which offers a way to scale network storage ability.

ScaleIO is known for its software that can change an application server to a virtual storage area network. According to the company, the ECS software “uses application hosts’ local disks to realize a virtual SAN that is comparable to or better than external SAN storage, but at a fraction of the cost and complexity.”

Founders Boaz Palgi, Erez Webman, Lior Bahat, Eran Borovik, and Erez Ungar, all held key technology, executive, sales, and business development positions at storage companies such as IBM, Topio, NetApp, LSI, and XtremIO, before starting their company in 2010.

For the five Israeli guys this was not their first high-tech exit. It turns out that they are known to build up startups and then sell them off. Topio was acquired by NetApp in 2006; XtremIO was acquired by EMC for $430 million last year and Storwize was acquired by IBM in 2010.

ScaleIO and EMC have yet to officially publicize the reported acquisition.