HP Itanium 2-based Server Achieves Record-setting Performance Across Diverse Workloads.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 8, 2002

Itanium 2-based Systems Offer Multi-OS Functionality,

Delivering Unmatched Flexibility and Investment Protection

HP (NYSE:HPQ) today announced further record-breaking performance benchmark results across multiple workloads on the rack-optimized HP Server rx5670 featuring the Intel(R) Itanium(R) 2 processor.

HP's broad portfolio of Intel Itanium 2-based servers provide the multiple operating system functionality necessary to support the diverse workloads of today's enterprise data centers. With support for Microsoft(R) Windows(R), Linux and HP-UX operating system environments, they offer the flexibility, performance and price/performance required to cost-effectively handle the most demanding enterprise applications.

Close design and development collaboration between HP and its partners has produced industry-leading performance benchmarks that satisfy customers' most complex and data-intensive workloads. The HP Server rx5670 has achieved the first certified Windows-based benchmark result for the SAP(R) Advanced Planner and Optimizer-Demand Planning (SAP APO-DP) solution running on Microsoft Windows, as well as record-setting benchmark results for SPECweb99_SSL running Linux and for SPECjbb2000 running HP-UX.

"HP and Intel's long-standing commitment to the Itanium architecture has produced an enterprise-ready Itanium 2-based ecosystem for commercial computing," said Mark Hudson, vice president of marketing, HP Business Critical Systems. "With HP's unparalleled expertise and comprehensive services, customers can quickly and seamlessly incorporate Itanium 2-based systems into their environments, delivering increased flexibility in meeting changing business requirements and unmatched investment protection."

"Itanium 2's processor performance numbers are impressive, matching or besting the leading RISC processor results," said Jonathan Eunice, principal analyst and IT advisor, Illuminata, Inc. "More conclusive from a user perspective, however, are the stream of excellent results coming out of recent database, Web and application benchmarks. They confirm the suitability of the platform for commercial computing."

The HP Server rx5670, with four 1-GHz Itanium 2 processors, holds the distinction of being the first Windows-based server to gain a certified SAP Standard Application APO-DP Benchmark. The rx5670 result beat the previous industry-leading four-processor result by 15 percent, achieving a result of 157,555/hour planned characteristic combinations on an aggregate level running Microsoft Windows Advanced Limited Edition, version 1.2, and Microsoft SQL Server 2000 (64-bit) beta version database(1). The result showcases to customers the server's leading performance for running supply chain demand planning models.

HP, in cooperation with Zeus Technology, Ltd., a leading provider of Web server infrastructure, also has produced the world's top four-processor system performance result on the industry standard SPECweb99_SSL benchmark running Zeus Web Server for Linux. The HP Server rx5670 easily outperformed the competition with a score of 1,498 simultaneous connections. The result is more than 50 percent higher than IBM's p630 result using the 1-GHz Power4 processor and is more than double Sun's V480 result using the 900-MHz UltraSPARC III processor(2). The SPECwebb99 SSL benchmark measures a server's ability to effectively handle secure encrypted Web transactions and is a critical benchmark for companies executing high levels of secure transactions over the Internet.

Additionally, the HP Server rx5670 running HP-UX Java for HP achieved an industry best four-processor SPECjbb2000 benchmark result of 63,414 OPS/s (operations per second). This level of performance exceeded IBM's best-published four-processor RISC-based system result by 33 percent and Sun's best-published eight-processor RISC-based system result by 46 percent(3). The SPECjbb2000 benchmark is used to evaluate the performance of server-side Java(TM), providing the industry's most objective and representative benchmark for measuring a server's ability to run J2EE (Java 2 Enterprise Edition) applications.

Enabled by the Intel Itanium 2 processor and the high-bandwidth, low latency HP Chipset zx1, the HP Server rx5670 now holds industry-leading positions in the four-processor server category for the following commercial benchmarks:

No. 1 -- TPC-C OLTP benchmark(4)

No. 1 -- SPECweb99_SSL secure Internet transaction benchmark

No. 1 -- SPECjbb2000 Java serving benchmark

No. 1 -- SAP APO-DP benchmark for a four-processor Windows-based server

More information about HP solutions based on Intel Itanium processors is available at http://www.hp.com/go/itanium.

About HP

HP is a leading global provider of products, technologies, solutions and services to consumers and businesses. The company's offerings span IT infrastructure, personal computing and access devices, global services and imaging and printing. HP completed its merger transaction involving Compaq Computer Corp. on May 3, 2002. More information about HP is available at http://www.hp.com.

(1) The HP Server rx5670 produced the leading four-processor server system performance on the SAP Standard Application APO-DP Benchmark with SAP APO version 3.0A, processing 157,555 planned characteristic combinations on an aggregated level per hour with an average CPU utilization of 91 percent, using Microsoft SQL Server 2000 64-bit database and Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server LE (v 1.2) operating system; run by HP in Redmond, Wash. The HP Server rx5670 was configured with four Intel Itanium 2 processors, each with 3 MB of integrated L3 cache, 32 GB of memory and a total of 540 GB of disk space. Certified by SAP on Sept. 30, 2002, more information is available on the SAP Web site at http://www.sap.com/benchmark/. SAP APO-DP: AlphaServer ES 45, four-processor, Oracle 9i, 136,982, available May 29, 2002.

(2) SPECweb99_SSL: HP Server rx5670: 1,498 conforming simultaneous connections using four Intel Itanium2 1-GHz processors, available August 2002. IBM eServer P630: 986 conforming simultaneous connections using four Power4 1.0-GHz processors, available August 2002. Sun Fire V480: 568 conforming simultaneous connections using four UltraSPARC III 900MHz processors, available May 2002.

(3) SPECjbb2000: HP Server rx5670: 63,414 OPS/s using four Intel Itanium 2 1-GHz processors, available Oct. 3, 2002. IBM eServer P620, Model 6F0: 47,698 OPS/s using four RS64 IV 750-MHz processors, available March 2002. Sun Fire 6800: 43,353 OPS/s using eight UltraSPARC III 750-MHz processors, available March 2001. Details on the results of SPEC benchmarks are available at http://www.spec.org.

(4) Single-system, Microsoft SQL Server 2000 (64-bit) beta version: TPC-C: HP Server rx5670: 78,454/tpmC, $5.11/tpmC, available Dec. 31, 2002. Additional information is available at http://www.tpc.org.

Results of the TPC-C benchmark and others mentioned in this release are posted on the HP Web site at http://www.hp.com/products1/itanium/performance/commercial/.

Intel and Itanium are registered trademarks of Intel Corp. or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. SAP and other SAP products and services mentioned herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and several other countries. SPEC and the benchmark names SPECweb and SPECjbb are registered trademarks of the Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation. Java is a U.S. trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc. TPC and TPC-C are trademarks of the Transaction Processing Council. Details of TPC-C benchmarks can be viewed at http://www.tpc.org.

This news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements. Risks, uncertainties and assumptions include the possibility that the market for the sale of certain products and services may not develop as expected; that development of these products and services may not proceed as planned; and other risks that are described from time to time in HP's Securities and Exchange Commission reports, including but not limited to HP's quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended April 30, 2002 and reports filed subsequent to HP's annual report on Form 10-K, as amended on January 30, 2002, for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2001. If any of these risks or uncertainties materializes or any of these assumptions proves incorrect, HP's results could differ materially from HP's expectations in these statements. HP assumes no obligation and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements.