Compaq Announces New NonStop Himalaya DSS Servers Optimized for Business-Critical Decision Support; Compaq Reaffirms Commitment to New Himalaya Solutions.

HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 22, 1998--Compaq Computer Corporation (NYSE:CPQ) announced today the new NonStop(R) Himalaya(R) Solution Server for DSS (DSS Server).

DSS Server is a competitively priced solution that incorporates fault-tolerant, highly scalable NonStop Himalaya servers, the NonStop SQL database, and other software needed for large-scale, business-critical DSS environments such as operational data stores (ODS). By combining the traditional NonStop server strengths of availability, scalability, and online transaction processing with parallel hardware and software architecture ideally suited for large-scale decision support, DSS Server delivers a flexible, growth-oriented environment that reduces decision support life-cycle costs and improves the customer's return on investment.

Bill Heil, Compaq vice president and general manager, Tandem Division, said, "DSS Server is the first of a series of new products that underscore Compaq's commitment to drive NonStop Himalaya servers into new application areas." Heil continued, "NonStop Himalaya servers already run some of the world's largest DSS environments, and our new DSS Server gives customers a comprehensive solution -- in an attractively priced package."

Ideally Suited for Operational Data Stores: Decision support has evolved from an environment with a few highly specialized users analyzing very specific information to being an integral part of the mainstream support infrastructure for online workers. The ODS environment permits updates to the database while allowing up-to-the minute analysis of operational data by users who may have radically different query profiles. Functions like customer support include both standard decision support queries as well as updates of data.

"Because the operational data store will provide critical online decision making for potentially thousands of operational users, it must be extremely reliable and scalable," said John Nicholson, Compaq vice president of database and business intelligence. "NonStop Himalaya is extremely well positioned for this task. It currently supports the world's most business-critical applications such as stock exchanges and financial networks as well as many of the world's largest data warehouses. Compaq's complete and very strong enterprise offerings, which range from high-volume, standards-based servers over 64-bit high-performance Alpha servers to the massively parallel NonStop Himalaya servers, completely eclipse the competition."

Industry Recognition: DSS Server incorporates the same NonStop Himalaya technology that has recently won recognition from major industry groups. In July, the DCI Data Warehouse World conference awarded Compaq the prestigious 1998 Excellence in Business Information Award for its data warehouse at the USAA Casualty Indemnity Company (http://www.tandem.com/pres_rel/dcaawapl/dcaawapl.htm). In June, the Data Warehousing Institute conferred its 1998 Best Practices Award on Dayton Hudson Corporation for its NonStop Himalaya server-based data warehouse, one of the largest in the world (http://www.tandem.com/pres_rel/vldbawpl/vldbawpl.htm).

Customer Benefits: (1) The DSS Server provides high-end DSS technology to customers with smaller databases and enables them to scale up easily, without disruptive application changes or forklift upgrades; (2) The 24 x 7 availability of NonStop Himalaya servers reduces costly downtime and enhances the effectiveness of many applications, such as customer care, marketing automation, claims analysis and micromerchandising; (3) NonStop Himalaya server's inherent manageability advantage, plus the advanced query features of the parallel NonStop SQL database, significantly reduce staffing and administration costs; (4) These benefits, plus low initial purchase price, combine to deliver customers with a return on investment that is one of the industry's best for large DSS systems.

Product Description: The DSS Server includes 250-gigabyte, 500-gigabyte, or 1-terabyte configurations, with 4, 8, or 16 S70000 processors, respectively. DSS Server includes key software needed to build a DSS environment: DataLoader and Storage Management Foundation (SMF). NonStop ODBC Server, which provides open database connectivity, and the NonStop SQL database are sold separately on a per-user license basis. DSS Server is available immediately.

For details on this announcement, visit: http://www.tandem.com/iBase.asp?PAGE=dss_platforms

Company Background: Founded in 1982, Compaq Computer Corporation, a Fortune 100 company, is a global information technology company. Compaq is the fifth largest computer company in the world and the largest global supplier of personal computers. For more corporate information, see http://www.compaq.com.

Note to Editors: COMPAQ and the names of Compaq products referenced herein are either trademarks and/or service marks or registered trademarks and/or service marks of Compaq Computer Corporation. Tandem, Himalaya and NonStop are trademarks or registered trademarks of Tandem Computers Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group in the U.S. and other countries. Other product names mentioned herein may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. Technical specifications and availability are subject to change without notice.