Compaq Raises the Standard for Mainstream Servers.

--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Editor's Summary

Compaq today announced:

- Two new servers, the Compaq ProSignia 300 and Compaq ProLiant 1500. These servers, targeted primarily at the Novell NetWare server market, incorporate mission-critical features previously found only on high-end server products. New FlexSMP dual-processing capability for the ProLiant 1500 offers additional processor scalability and performance.

- Compaq SmartStart enhancements -- support for NetWare 4.1, IBM OS/2 Warp 3.0 and LAN Server 4.0. New Express Install and Replicated Install make installing and configuring NetWare on Compaq servers even easier.

- New Storage Options provide customers with increased performance, greater storage capacity and enhanced data security.

- Disaster Recovery Services, through a partnership with Comdisco, which provide Compaq customers access to disaster recovery service bundles and planning software as part of CompaqCare for Systems.

- Price reductions of up to nine percent on Compaq ProSignia 500 models.

HOUSTON, February 13, 1995 -- Recognizing that customers consider every network server to be "mission critical," Compaq Computer Corporation (NYSE: CPQ) today announced two new servers, the ProSignia 300 and ProLiant 1500, primarily targeted at the mainstream NetWare server market. These servers answer customer demands for robust, fault-tolerant, manageable workgroup and departmental networking platforms at unexpected prices. Engineered with functionality previously found only in high-end mission-critical servers, the ProSignia 300 and ProLiant 1500 redefine the value standard for mainstream servers.

Compaq, the number one provider of NetWare servers worldwide, also reinforced its market leadership role by announcing the following: significant enhancements to Compaq SmartStart and Compaq Insight Manager; new storage options that increase the storage capacity of Compaq servers to over 300 GB and provide high performance, high capacity and more reliable back-up; an agreement with Comdisco to provide disaster recovery services; and price reductions of up to nine percent on Compaq ProSignia 500 models.

"Networked servers have become critical to the productivity and operations of both large and small organizations. To address this, we've incorporated into our mainstream servers features once associated only with "mission-critical" networking platforms," said Michael Lambert, vice president, Marketing, Compaq Systems Division. "By moving these high-end features into our mainstream line, at unprecedented prices, the reliability of even the smallest workgroup network is significantly increased. This translates into benefits that customers value highly: increased productivity and reduced costs."

The ProSignia 300: A Mainstream Workgroup Server Priced Like a Desktop PC

Starting at under $3,400(a), the ProSignia 300 is the only mainstream server to incorporate high-end server dependability and manageability features such as ECC (Error Checking and Correcting) memory, ASR (Automatic Server Recovery) technology, Compaq SmartStart, Compaq Insight Manager, CD- ROM capability and optional rack-mountable platform -- previously found only on the Compaq ProLiant 2000 and Compaq ProLiant 4000 and higher-end competitive products. Available today with either a 75 MHz or a 90 MHz Intel Pentium processor, the ProSignia 300 is up to 41 percent faster(b) than competitive systems and is targeted primarily at price-sensitive medium-to-small businesses, as well as small workgroups and remote sites within large companies, that use Novell's NetWare operating system. To ensure that the ProSignia 300 can accommodate future business computing needs, the processor subsystem is board- or chip-upgradable to future Intel processors and the latest Intel Pentium OverDrive technology, when they become available.

The ProSignia 300 also utilizes Compaq's TriFlex/PCI system architecture. This architecture is the first and only true PCI system architecture optimized for the second-generation Intel Pentium processor. Compaq's TriFlex/PCI delivers all the speed and power of Intel's Pentium processor by optimizing the three critical server subsystems -- processor, I/O and memory -- into three separate high-bandwidth buses. Just as Compaq's TriFlex/PCI architecture is optimized to take advantage of Intel's second-generation Pentium processor, the ProSignia 300 has also been optimized for maximum performance under Novell's NetWare operating system.

Offering flexibility and increased efficiency to customers looking to consolidate workgroup servers into one location, the ProSignia 300 can be placed into highly serviceable rack- mountable platforms. Using the optional ProSignia 300 Rack Mounting kit, customers can obtain all the advantages associated with a rack-mountable server such as centralized management, security and control.

The ProLiant 1500: An Affordable, Mission-Critical Server

Starting at under $5,700(c) the ProLiant 1500, like the ProSignia 300, is targeted primarily at the NetWare server market. The ProLiant 1500, with either a 75 MHz or a 100 MHz Pentium processor, now incorporates mission-critical functionality to deliver new levels of dependability, manageability, and performance. Up to 64 percent faster(d) than competitive systems, the ProLiant 1500 can be deployed as a departmental file server (using NetWare) or entry-level application server (using Microsoft Windows NT).

Expanding on the award-winning ProLiant 1000, the new ProLiant 1500 offers standard features previously found only on the ProLiant 2000 and ProLiant 4000 servers including: ECC memory, TriFlex/PCI systems architecture, as well as support for Fast-Wide SCSI-2, ASR-2, hot pluggable drives, disk arrays and optional redundant power supplies. The ProLiant 1500 system processor is board (incorporating faster Intel processors as they become available) and chip (via future Intel Pentium OverDrive processors) upgradable.

Responding to customer needs, Compaq also announced a rack- mountable model of the ProLiant 1500. This model, called the Rack-Mountable ProLiant 1500R, provides customers with the same features and functions of the ProLiant 1500 in a rack- mountable form factor.

For those customers whose environments require additional performance scalability from a mainstream server, Compaq will begin shipping its first FlexSMP dual-processor upgrade board for the ProLiant 1500 late in the first half of 1995. This implementation, a dual-processor single cache design, will be fully compliant with the newly developed Intel Multi-Processing Specification Version 1.1. The FlexSMP processor board upgrades will be supported only on ProLiant 1500 models. In the second half of 1995, Compaq expects to offer an additional FlexSMP upgrade board based on a two-processor, two-cache design.

Compaq SmartStart Enhancements

With today's announcement, SmartStart Version 2.10 makes installing and optimizing NetWare on Compaq servers even easier. For customers with a small single-server network environment and relatively little network installation and integration expertise, today's release of SmartStart offers Express Install. The fastest way to get a server up and running, Express Install prompts customers to answer three or four simple questions (language spoken, country lived in, etc.) and then conducts a full NetWare software installation, hardware configuration and software/hardware optimization using predefined parameters. (Compaq Insight Manager is installed as a part of this process.) Express Install is supported on all ProSignia and ProLiant servers and is available for use only with NetWare Version 3.12 and Version 4.1.

To make duplicating server configurations easier for customers who typically purchase and identically configure a large number of servers at one time, today's release of Compaq SmartStart supports Replicated Install. Replicated Install allows customers to reproduce the exact installation, configuration and optimization parameters of one server on others. This process is supported only with NetWare and NetWare/Oracle installations and can be used only on servers with identical hardware configurations. Replicated Install is supported both on the ProSignia and ProLiant families of computers.

Additional enhancements supported on SmartStart Version 2.10 include: proactively selecting database disk partitioning and the ability to install, configure and optimize Cheyenne's ARCServe tape backup software directly from SmartStart (support for NetWare Version 3.x and Version 4.x only). SmartStart also now supports NetWare Version 4.1, IBM OS/2 Warp Version 3.0 and LAN Server Version 4.0, in addition to Windows NT Version 3.5 and SCO Unix.

Finally, with this announcement, Compaq Insight Manager Version 2.40 provides greater Telnet support (interoperable with Novell's XConsole; auto-detection of Telnet connection), as well as support for NetWare Version 4.1 and OS/2 Warp.

New Storage and Retrieval Options

Compaq also introduced today four new storage options which provide customers with increased performance, greater storage capacity from the same number of drives, and enhanced data security. The new 32-Bit Fast-Wide SCSI-2/E EISA and 32-Bit Fast-Wide SCSI-2/P PCI controllers maximize data throughput and minimize CPU utilization. Both controllers support both Fast- Wide SCSI-2 and Fast SCSI-2 hard drives.

For high-capacity, high-throughput storage of mission-critical data, Compaq now offers 4.3 GB and 2.1 GB Fast-Wide SCSI-2 hard drives. With the introduction of the 4.3 GB hard drive, Compaq servers can accommodate more than 300 GB of storage capacity.

To help customers combat the shrinking time window for data backup, Compaq is introducing a new tape backup unit. The 10/20 GB DLT (Digital Linear Tape) Tape Drive, a more reliable, high- capacity, high-performance storage system, supports all the major network operating systems (NetWare, OS/2, SCO Unix, Windows NT) and two leading network backup software packages -- Cheyenne ARCServe and Legato Networker. Available immediately in an external table-top form factor (and later in an internal format for tower and rack models of the ProLiant and ProSignia families), the 10/20-GB DLT Tape Drive transfers 10 GB of uncompressed data or 20 GB of compressed data to a single tape.

The ProLiant Storage System has also been upgraded to offer support for both hot-pluggable Fast SCSI-2 and Fast-Wide SCSI-2 hard drives.

A Service First: Disaster Recovery Services

Recognizing that unexpected disasters often wreak havoc with the best laid plans, today Compaq announced an agreement with Comdisco, the world's leading provider of disaster recovery services ranging from the workgroup to the enterprise. Through this agreement with Comdisco, Compaq customers will have access to disaster recovery service bundles and planning software. These services will become a part of CompaqCare for Systems, Compaq's extensive service and support program for server customers.

For $495(e), the Recovery Planning Software product, a condensed version of Comdisco's full-service planning software focused on the LAN environment, provides customers with a proven methodology for creating a disaster recovery plan.

For protection against the unexpected loss of a Local Area Network (LAN), Compaq and Comdisco offer the Mobile Cluster. Starting at $3,500(f), the Mobile Cluster gives customers access to the essential equipment needed to rebuild a LAN, which will be shipped to a Comdisco warm-site or customer-designated location within twenty-four hours of disaster declaration. Twenty-four hour technical support to help rebuild the LAN is included in the fee for the Mobile Cluster.

For customers who desire more extensive services, Compaq and Comdisco offer the Emergency Response Bundle. Starting at $22,000(g), the Emergency Response Bundle provides customers immediate access to a Comdisco Work Area Recovery Site, annual test time and five days of business recovery consulting and LAN planning. ProSignia 500 Price Reductions

Continuing to provide extraordinary value to customers, Compaq today announced price reductions on all ProSignia 500 models by up to nine percent. Compaq ProSignia 500 models now start at under $4,150(h). Introduced in November 1994, the ProSignia 500 offers a 90 MHz Pentium processor; TriFlex/PCI architecture; the flexibility of both EISA and PCI; and an integrated PCI network interface card and Fast SCSI-2 controller.

Company Background

Compaq Computer Corporation is a world leader in the manufacture of desktop and notebook personal computers and servers. Founded in 1982, the company reported 1994 worldwide sales of $10.9 billion. Compaq products are sold and supported in more than 100 countries through a network of more than 38,000 Compaq marketing partners. Compaq also sells directly to customers through Compaq Direct Plus at 1-800-888-5858.

FOR COMPAQ CUSTOMER SUPPORT AND INFORMATION, CALL 800-345-1518.

(a) Estimated selling price; actual price may vary.

(b) The ProSignia 300 5/75, configured with a 75 MHz Pentium processor, the Integrated Fast-SCSI-2/P PCI Controller, 16 MB RAM and four 1 GB hard drives, was tested using the standard NetBench 3.0 Disk Mix Test.

(c) Estimated selling price; actual price may vary.

(d) The Compaq ProLiant 1500 5/75, configured with a 75 MHz Pentium processor, the Integrated Fast-SCSI-2/P PCI Controller, 16 MB RAM and four 1 GB hard drives, was tested using the standard NetBench 3.0 Disk Mix Test.

(e) Estimated selling price; actual price may vary.

(f) Estimated selling price; actual price may vary.

(g) Estimated selling price; actual price may vary.

(h) Estimated selling price; actual price may vary.

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Compaq, Registered U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. ProSignia VS, ProSignia, ProLiant, Compaq SmartStart, Compaq Insight Manager are trademarks of Compaq Computer Corporation. Product names mentioned herein may be trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective companies. Pentium is a trademark of Intel Corporation.

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713-374-0484

or

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