Here we go again. HP just offered $2 billion, or $30 per share in cash for data storage company 3PAR. This morning, Dell announced that 3PAR had accepted its increased offer to acquire the storage leader for $27 per share in cash, or approximately $1.8 billion.

Dell had previously signed an agreement to acquire 3PAR for $18 per share or $1.13 billion, with a provision for matching competing bids. HP then effectively outbid the company and offered $1.6 billion, but Dell matched that offer yesterday, after which HP made a renewed bid for $1.8 billion.

The bidding war continues.

Dell announced today that 3PAR has accepted its increased offer to acquire the storage leader for $27 per share in cash, or approximately $1.8 billion.

Dell had previously signed an agreement to acquire 3PAR for $18 per share or $1.13 billion, with a provision for matching competing bids.

HP then effectively outbid the company and offered $1.6 billion, but Dell matched that offer yesterday, after which HP made a renewed bid for – you guessed it – $1.8 billion.

This morning, we saw Dell’s announcement this morning that 3PAR had accepted its increased offer to acquire the storage company for $24.30 per share in cash, or approximately $1.6 billion, net of 3PAR’s cash. Now HP just upped the ante, offering $1.8 billion for 3PAR, or $27 per share in cash.

Clearly these companies want 3PAR. Bad. Dell had previously signed an agreement to acquire 3PAR for $18 per share, with a provision for matching competing bids. HP subsequently outbid Dell for the data storage company, offering $24 per share in cash, or also roughly $1.6 billion at the time. But Dell and 3PAR signed an amendment to the agreement reflecting the new offer price, which brings its bid up to par with HP’s offer.

Dell announced this morning that 3PAR has accepted its increased offer to acquire the storage company for $24.30 per share in cash, or approximately $1.6 billion, net of 3PAR’s cash.

Dell had previously signed an agreement to acquire 3PAR for $18 per share, with a provision for matching competing bids.

HP subsequently outbid Dell for the data storage company, offering $24 per share in cash, or also roughly $1.6 billion at the time. Dell and 3PAR have now signed an amendment to the agreement reflecting the new offer price, which brings its bid up to par with HP’s offer.

Cisco this morning announced its intent to purchase privately-held and venture-backed ExtendMedia, a provider of software-based Content Management Systems that helps media companies and network operators manage digital video content.

Financial terms of the transaction remain undisclosed, and the deal is expected to close in the first half of Cisco’s fiscal year 2011.

A week after purchasing Fortify, HP has made a purchase today, acquiring Stratavia, a database and data center automation company. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Stratavia develops and markets database, server and run book automation software which helps customers reduce the cost of operating their enterprise environments. The software is designed to control application deployment and management in hybrid IT environments as well as simplify the deployment of applications in the cloud.

Atlantis Computing, a Mountain View-based provider of Virtual Desktop Infrastructure storage and performance optimization solutions, this morning announced that it has closed a $10 million Series C investment co-led by Partech International, El Dorado Ventures and Cisco.

Atlantis says it intends to use the capital to fund sales growth, marketing activities and international expansion.

IBM put out a new report (embedded below) on security threats to enterprise computer networks today from its X-Force security research group. It found a 36 percent increase in security vulnerabilities, with Web applications being the main culprit. Web apps with security exploits accounted for 55 percent of all disclosed vulnerabilities.

One of the biggest threats are hidden attacks using Javascript. There was a 52 percent rise in such “obfuscated attacks” in the first half of 2010. The increased adoption of cloud computing and virtualization brings with it its own security threats. For instance, 35 percent of virtualization vulnerabilities affect the hypervisor, meaning that gaining control of one virtual machine can give attackers controls of other machines on the same system.

VSS Monitoring, a provider of distributed traffic capturing solutions, today announced it has landed its first institutional round of financing from Battery Ventures, to the tune of $20 million.

Monitoring and securing networks is an increasingly complicated task for IT managers, and VSS Monitoring is banking on what they refer to as distributed traffic capture to address these challenges.

6fusion, a fledgling company that has developed a system to take control of third party computing resources, this morning announced that it has raised a $3 million round of venture capital financing. In addition, the startup announced it has relocated to the Research Triangle region of North Carolina.

The $3 million Series A round was led by Intersouth Partners, and will be used to add to its senior executive team and expand research and development.