A high-tech tug-of-war between PC giants Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) and Dell (DELL) over tiny data-storage provider 3Par (PAR) underlines their pursuit for gains beyond PCs.

HP's bid of $24 a share is 33% higher than Dell's offer last week of $18 a share, putting the value of HP's offer at about $1.6 billion.

Data storage used to be one of the more mundane corners of the technology industry. Now it is where an increasing number of tech companies — and Wall Street — want to be.

Dave Novosel, an analyst at investment-research firm Gimme Credit said that, "The market is saying: Look, HP's offer is not the last one. Perhaps, Cisco (Systems) or Oracle are possibilities, but not as likely.

On Monday, Hewlett-Packard, the world’s largest technology company, started a bidding war against its rival Dell for the rights to 3Par, an 11-year-old storage company based in Fremont, Calif.

HP characterized the proposed acquisition as part of its goal to build a high-tech, one-stop shop for customers across a broad set of technologies, including data storage, network equipment and servers. Last week, it announced its intention to buy computer-security company Fortify Software for an undisclosed sum.

H. P.’s bid of $1.6 billion, or $24 a share, is 33 percent higher than what Dell offered last week, $18 a share. It is also 149 percent higher than where 3Par was trading before the Dell offer.

A. M. Sacconaghi Jr., an analyst with the research firm Sanford C. Bernstein & Company said that, “You see deals go in vogue, and we are clearly seeing that now.”

Analysts have pointed to companies like Isilon Systems, Compellent and CommVault as likely beneficiaries of the storage acquisition flutter. Shares of all three companies shot up 10 percent on Monday on news of H. P.’s bid for
3Par.