HP Introduces HP SureStore DAT40 Tape-Backup Solution: New Drive Sets Performance Benchmark For DDS-4.

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 21, 1999--

New DDS-4 Drive Boasts Industry's Fastest Transfer Rate,

Includes HP One-Button Disaster Recovery Technology

Hewlett-Packard Company today announced the HP SureStore DAT40 DDS-4 tape drive, which builds on the company's leadership in the Digital Data Storage (DDS) market and delivers increased DAT performance at affordable prices for small- to medium-sized networks.

The new product, slated for availability this autumn, features a transfer rate of up to 6MB/s compressed (assuming a 2:1 compression ratio) -- the highest performance yet attained in the DDS-4 field -- cutting up to 30 minutes from the time competing DDS-4 drives require to back up 40GB of data. A recent study, commissioned by HP and conducted by leading research agency Ipsos-RSL Ltd., concluded that this availability advantage alone can save a company $4,500 every time a system's data has to be restored.

The product also features HP's new One-Button Disaster Recovery (OBDR) feature for integrated full-system restoration. OBDR is the fastest, simplest way yet to return a server or desktop system to its normal operational state following a crash -- taking minutes instead of hours or days.

"HP -- the worldwide leader in DAT drive shipments -- is fulfilling its commitment to move this technology forward," said Bob Abraham, vice president at industry analysts Freeman Associates of Santa Barbara, Calif. "HP's new DDS-4 drive, with features like OBDR, will appeal to small- to mid-sized businesses and workgroups, further strengthening HP's leadership position in the backup market for entry-level servers and extending their reach to the midrange segment."

"Because uptime is increasingly critical for small- to medium-sized servers, we're delivering a solution with superior performance that enables backups to be completed faster than ever," said Jack Trautman, general manager at HP Computer Peripherals, Bristol. "With OBDR, HP's DDS-4 drive also gets computers back up and running faster than any other available DDS-based system. That's the idea behind the HP SureStore DAT40 drive -- keep it fast, simple and reliable.

"Based upon the continued appeal of the proven, backwards-compatible DDS technology, HP has already begun the development of its fifth-generation DDS product," said Trautman. -0-

Key HP SureStore DAT40 Benefits

--            Industry-leading performance to address increasing data
              volumes and shrinking backup windows -- The HP SureStore
              DAT40 drive boasts a 6MB/s (compressed) transfer rate
              for full-volume 40GB backup in less than two hours, up
              to 30 minutes faster than competing DDS-4 drives .

--            HP One-Button Disaster Recovery for fast and simple
              system recovery -- A single button on the tape drive
              activates software that automatically restores the
              operating system, configurations, applications, drivers
              and data files, significantly reducing the time required
              to restore a server or desktop system after a
              data-destroying disaster.

--            Designed for reliability - Offering a Mean Time Between
              Failures (MTBF) specification of 400,000 hours at a 12
              percent duty cycle, and tested to be compatible with all
              major servers, software and operating systems.

--            Support for new low voltage differential SCSI (LVDS)
              enables remote drive placement -- The HP SureStore DAT40
              drive can be placed wherever convenient, not just
              directly adjacent to the server as required by previous
              SCSI specifications. Automatic switching between LVDS
              and single-ended SCSI allows users to connect the drive
              to a range of buses without having to reconfigure the
              drive.

Pricing and Availability

The HP SureStore DAT40 DDS-4 tape drive is expected to be available in the autumn through HP authorized resellers, distributors, retailers and mail-order catalogs worldwide. Pricing will be announced when the product becomes available.

About HP's Information Storage Group

HP's Information Storage Group (ISG), which focuses on the rapidly growing extended-storage market, manufactures and sells information storage based on CD, tape, and magneto-optical technologies. ISG's mission is to be the premier provider of a complete range of storage solutions and media from desktop to departmental and enterprise servers and networks.

About HP

Hewlett-Packard Company -- a leading global provider of computing and imaging solutions and services for business and home -- is focused on capitalizing on the opportunities of the Internet and the proliferation of electronic services.

HP had computer-related revenue of $39.5 billion in its 1998 fiscal year. HP plans to launch a new company consisting of its industry-leading test-and-measurement, semiconductor products, chemical-analysis and medical businesses. These businesses represented $7.6 billion of HP's total revenue in fiscal 1998. With leading positions in multiple market segments, this technology-based company will focus on opportunities such as communications and life sciences.

HP has 123,000 employees worldwide and had total revenue of $47.1 billion in its 1998 fiscal year. Information about HP, its products and the company's Year 2000 program can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.hp.com.