Compaq's New Generation of 64-bit AlphaServers Delivers up to 2.5 Times Greater Performance.

HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 19, 1998--

World's Fastest Processor Powers AlphaServers to Cut Hours

Off Processing Tasks and Give Customers a Competitive Advantage

For customers who need blazing speed to meet the needs of enterprise decision support, Internet services and high-performance technical applications, Compaq Computer Corporation (NYSE:CPQ) today introduced two new AlphaServer models based on Compaq's newest generation 64-bit Alpha 21264 (EV6) chip - the world's fastest processor. The new Compaq AlphaServer GS series announced worldwide today gives customers up to 2.5 times(1) the application performance of the previous generation of industry-leading AlphaServers -- cutting hours off of processing tasks and giving customers faster access to more detailed information. In addition to this superior performance, Compaq AlphaServer GS series are universal platform systems that support DIGITAL UNIX -- the most NT-friendly Unix(2), OpenVMS and Microsoft Windows NT operating systems to give customers the greatest choice and flexibility available in the industry.

"Customers want an IT provider that can demonstrate a proven 64-bit capability and has available today the market's leading 64-bit applications," said John T. Rose, Senior Vice President and Group General Manager, Enterprise Computing Group, Compaq Computer Corporation. "Our goal is to continue to enhance the capabilities of Alpha and bring these capabilities to our high performance servers. In addition, we will continue to drive Alpha and Intel processors into our industry standard server and workstation product lines to give more enterprise customers the benefit of industry-leading performance."

Richard Partridge, industry analyst at D.H. Brown, added, "The introduction of these AlphaServers under the Compaq logo reconfirms Compaq's commitment not only to the 64-bit Alpha processor but also to the three operating environments for these AlphaServers: DIGITAL UNIX, OpenVMS and Windows NT. With the high-performance Alpha 21264 processor, Alpha-powered systems lead the pack once again."

Blazing Performance Creates New Opportunities for Compaq Customers

With the industry-leading performance of the Compaq AlphaServer GS series, Compaq customers will be able to access, analyze and report on critical business information across the enterprise much faster, in greater detail and from larger data sets. This allows customers to dramatically improve the overall operation and profitability of their business. The industry-leading performance of the Compaq AlphaServer GS series was tested by Margaret Crevar, Manager, SAS Institute Customer Technology Center, who said, "Running the same AlphaServer 8400 test on Alpha 21264 processors produced results 1.76 to 2.58 times faster than with previous-generation chips - clearly exceeding our expectations."

Using the industry-standard SPECweb benchmark, the Compaq AlphaServer GS140 shattered HP's industry record by delivering Web pages at 14263 ops/sec with only 10 CPUs compared to HP's 9000 system running at 13811 ops/sec with 16 CPUs. For additional benchmark information on the GS series, see www.compaq.com/alphaserver.

Compaq's 64-bit AlphaServer line continues to demonstrate superior performance and scalability in enterprise application markets such as data warehousing and business intelligence. The Compaq AlphaServer GS140 system is designed specifically for large-scale business applications. The system was stress-tested running a very large SAP R/3 Sales and Distribution (SD) application environment supporting more than 5,300 users, processing 550,000 order line items per hour and managing 1.2 TB of storage. For this real application, AlphaServer systems were able to support more users per processor than any competitor's system -- more than twice as many as the Sun Enterprise 10000 and 26 percent more than the HP 9000 V2250. With this extraordinary computing power, the Compaq AlphaServer GS series offers the advantages of better real-world application performance, shorter time to implementation, more cost-effective upgrades and greater flexibility. This stress test, audited and certified by SAP, demonstrates that the Compaq AlphaServer GS140 system provides the high processing power and scalability needed to support mission-critical applications in growing enterprises.

Two New Models: The Compaq AlphaServer GS60 and GS140

The first members of the new AlphaServer GS series, the AlphaServer GS60 and GS140, replace the current AlphaServer 8200/8400 systems with up to twice the power and application performance. AlphaServer 8200 and 8400 customers can easily, cost-effectively upgrade to the new GS series AlphaServer performance with simple, in-cabinet board upgrades, and be ready to run enterprise applications right out of the box. This means customers can take advantage of Alpha 21264 processing power without any porting or rewriting of code.

The new servers offer up to 28 GB of error-correctable memory, 144 individual PCI slots and the ability to configure up to 85 TB of UltraSCSI storage.

The entry price for the AlphaServer GS60 with 4 GB of memory is $199,990(3). The AlphaServer GS140 system price starts at $399,400(4).

Sajan Pillai, Project Manager at networkMCI Interact, explained, "The level of performance provided by the AlphaServer 8000 family has already surpassed our expectations for fast application execution. Our customers are becoming more and more sophisticated in their requests for customized views of call reports and billing data. This requires not only fast I/O for data access, and VLM64 capability, but also increasingly more powerful CPUs. The AlphaServer 8000 family continues to provide the raw power, scalability and expandability that we need to keep up with these demanding needs. We're looking forward to the industry-leading performance the new AlphaServer GS series will give us."

In addition to high-end systems, Compaq will also incorporate Alpha 21264 technology in planned mid-range AlphaServers (ES series) and low-end AlphaServers (DS series). Alpha-based ProLiant servers for the Windows NT market will also incorporate the Alpha 21264 processor. These systems will be introduced in the first half of 1999. Today's AlphaServer 800, 1200 and 4100 systems provide leadership solutions now, with the added benefit of a clear path to the future with upcoming Alpha 21264 systems.

New, Reduced Pricing on AlphaServer Family

System prices have been reduced by up to 16 percent on the AlphaServer 800 and 1200 systems. Memory prices on the popular AlphaServer 4100 systems have also been significantly reduced, by up to 33 percent. These new price reductions are in keeping with Compaq's market strategy, which is to make AlphaServers even more affordable to a broader range of customers for departmental and enterprise solutions.

The World's Best 64-Bit UNIX

With the new AlphaServer GS Series and the new release of Compaq's DIGITAL UNIX V4.0e operating system, customers will get all the benefits of improved reliability, availability and scalability features with a 100 percent increase in performance as well as full support of Alpha 21264 platforms. And with TruCluster solutions, customers are guaranteed that their critical applications will remain available at all times.

With the recent technology initiatives announced by Microsoft and Compaq, both companies will support DIGITAL UNIX in achieving leadership interoperability with Windows NT. These advancements in interoperability and NT will offer customers and partners reduced complexity, better management, more complete integration and easier development as they deploy mission-critical applications within their enterprises. D.H. Brown named Compaq's DIGITAL UNIX No.1 in overall UNIX operating system quality (www.dhbrown.com). The Gartner Group, in its recent Systems and Servers Evaluation, also listed DIGITAL UNIX as the industry's strongest operating system (www.gartner.com).

OpenVMS - The Hallmark of Reliability

Compaq also recently announced its innovative OpenVMS Galaxy software architecture and major enhancements to its OpenVMS operating system, affirming its strategic commitment to OpenVMS. These offerings feature high availability and seamless integration with Windows NT, and enable thousands of Compaq customers to take advantage of the high performance, scalability, and availability of OpenVMS clients, servers and clusters while easily integrating Windows NT into their enterprise.

Company Background

Founded in 1982, Compaq Computer Corporation is a Fortune Global 100 company. Compaq is the second largest computer company in the world and the largest global supplier of personal computers. Compaq develops and markets hardware, software, solutions, and services, including industry-leading enterprise computing solutions, fault-tolerant business-critical solutions, networking and communication products, commercial desktop and portable products and consumer PCs. The company is an industry leader in environmentally friendly programs and business practices.

Compaq products are sold and supported in more than 100 countries through a network of authorized Compaq marketing partners. Customer support and information about Compaq and its products are on the World Wide Web at http://www.compaq.com and are available by calling 1-800-OK-COMPAQ. Product information and reseller locations are available by calling 1-800-345-1518.

Compaq, Registered U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Product names mentioned herein may be trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

NOTE TO EDITORS: For additional news about Compaq's line of AlphaServers, please view today's related announcement, "Compaq Announces Major Strategic Alliance With Celera Genomics To Be Principal IT Solutions, Services Partner," at http://www.compaq.com/newsroom/pr/1998/index.html.

(1) SAS application testing recorded application performance

increases of up to 2.58 times faster than previous-generation

servers. (2) See related 9/10/98 Compaq and Microsoft press

release http://www.compaq.com/newsroom/pr/pr100998b.html (3) U.S. list price with DIGITAL UNIX or OpenVMS (4) U.S. list price with DIGITAL UNIX or OpenVMS