HP bolsters industry-leading UNIX system HP 9000 Enterprise Server line; HP Enterprise Server line increases performance, maximizes investment protection and enables computing consolidation.

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 22, 1997--Hewlett-Packard Company today introduced a broad range of HP 9000 Enterprise Servers running on HP's most powerful PA-RISC(1) processor, the 64-bit HP PA-8200. These servers are designed to provide a smooth growth path to high-level performance for OLTP (online transaction processing), compute, decision-support and Internet environments.

Highlights of today's announcement include the following:

-- Two new K-Class Enterprise Servers with up to six PA-8200 processors

-- Two new Enterprise Parallel Servers with enhanced K-Class and V-Class servers

"These new enterprise servers solidify HP's leadership in the UNIX(R) system marketplace," said Carol G. Mills, general manager of HP's Enterprise Systems Division. "Together, these servers give HP customers the headroom for growth within their computing environments with powerful and innovative RISC and UNIX system solutions, differentiating HP as a strategic global IT partner. No other RISC-server vendor approaches HP in high availability, investment protection or value proposition."

"Our track and trace data is mission-critical and needs to be real time," said Jeff Lucchesi, vice president of DHL's Infrastructure Technology and Services. "Our biggest issue is availability because we have information that is moving around the globe 24 hours per day, seven days a week. HP is proactively looking at what is needed for mission-critical applications, cost control and management."

HP 9000 K-CLASS ENTERPRISE SERVERS

The two new servers in HP's HP 9000 K-Class family of Enterprise Servers are Models K370 and K570. HP 9000 K-Class Enterprise Servers are used primarily as application, Web, database, local area network, network-file-system and compute servers. The sheer power of these midrange servers accommodates large-scale databases, Web and Internet solutions to give customers high-end performance with unprecedented midrange price/performance advantages.

The two new models are designed for symmetric multiprocessing. Each can accommodate from one to six 200MHz PA-8200 64-bit processors with enhanced I/O bandwidth and twice the memory, giving customers unbeatable "in-box" scalability and permitting easy onsite performance upgrades as applications and databases grow.

The K370 supports up to 4GB of physical memory, four HP-PB slots and three high-speed HP-HSC I/O slots. The K570 supports up to 8GB of physical memory, four HP-PB slots and nine HP-HSC slots. All systems run HP-UX(2) 10.20 enterprise-class operating system, and all existing K-Class server models are board-upgradeable to the PA-8200 processor models.

The K-Class Enterprise Server line offers a K460 TPC-C benchmark result of 14,739 tpmC at $133/tpmC, the leading TPC-C result for a system using fewer than 12 processors. The new K570 is expected to outperform the K460 by up to 50 percent on OLTP applications. The new servers are expected to provide three times the performance of Sun's UE3000 system, two times the performance of both the Digital 4100 system and IBM's RS/6000 J/R50 system and 30 percent better performance than Sun's UE4000 and UE5000 systems.

The new K-Class Enterprise Servers are excellent technical servers for EDA, MDA, scientific research, and oil and gas applications. Performing more than 15,000 IOPS per second, a four-way K-Class Enterprise Server provides users with an excellent file server to support several network segments.

U.S. PRICING AND AVAILABILITY

The PA-8200-based K-Class servers can be ordered now with shipments expected mid-summer. Prices start as follows:

-- $66,900 for the Model K370 base system, which includes one 200MHz PA-8200 microprocessor, 128MB memory, CD-ROM.

-- $86,900 for the Model K570 base system, which includes one 200MHz PA-8200 microprocessor, 256MB memory, CD-ROM.

-- Additional PA-8200 microprocessors are $25,000 each.

HP 9000 ENTERPRISE PARALLEL SERVERS

The two new HP 9000 Enterprise Parallel Servers are Models EPS 23 and EPS 40. The Enterprise Parallel Server architecture combines the strengths of massively parallel processing and symmetric multiprocessing technologies with ultra-high-end scalability and investment protection for such applications as multiterabyte, very large-scale decision support and data warehousing.

The Model EPS 23 leverages the new K570 Enterprise Servers as SMP domains within the Enterprise Parallel Server architecture. These servers provide excellent investment-protection and server-consolidation features.

Based on the new high-end V2200 Enterprise Server, also introduced today, the Model EPS 40 provides users with the ultra-high-end scalability needed to run in massively parallel processing environments.

Highly scalable, the EPS architecture can support up to 16 SMP server nodes in a single system, allowing users to link hundreds of processors for a single enterprisewide application. The EPS 23 and EPS 40 servers support up to 84 and 512 processors, respectively.

U.S. PRICING AND AVAILABILITY

Prices for the HP 9000 Enterprise Parallel Server Model 23 begin at $124,000. Each additional six-way EPS 23 SMP node is priced at $86,900. Additional PA-8200 processors can be added to any EPS 23 SMP node for $25,000 each. EPS 23 servers can be ordered starting July 1, and are expected to ship in the fourth quarter of this year. Prices for the HP 9000 Enterprise Parallel Server Model 40 begin at $190,000. Each additional 16-way EPS 40 SMP node is priced at $151,000. Additional PA-8200 processors can be added to any EPS 40 SMP node for $25,000 each. EPS 40 servers can be ordered starting Nov. 1, and are expected to ship in December.

ABOUT HP

HP is the official information-technology hardware and maintenance supplier to the 1998 World Cup soccer tournament and the 1997 Tournament of France. Selected for its technology and skills to support and manage mission-critical applications, HP will help create an information-management infrastructure for handling game-scoring; media centers; personnel accreditation; hotel information; and various ticketing, stadium, warehouse and back-office operations.

Hewlett-Packard Company is a leading global provider of computing, Internet and Intranet solutions, services, communications products and measurement solutions, all of which are recognized for excellence in quality and support. It is the second-largest computer supplier in the United States, with computer-related revenue in excess of $31.4 billion in its 1996 fiscal year. HP has 114,600 employees and had revenue of $38.4 billion in its 1996 fiscal year.

Information about HP and its products can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.hp.com . For specific information about HP UNIX system computing solutions, see http://www.hp.com/go/9000servers -0-

(1) PA-RISC stands for Precision Architecture-reduced- instruction-set computing.

(2) HP-UX 9.X and 10.0 for HP 9000 Series 700 and 800 computers are X/Open(R) Company UNIX 95 branded products. HP-UX 10.20 is an X/Open UNIX 95 branded product.

X/Open is a registered trademark, and the X device is a trademark of X/Open Company Ltd. in the UK and other countries.

UNIX is a registered trademark in the United States and other countries, licensed exclusively through X/Open Company Limited.

CONTACT: HP

Terri Powell, 408/447-1673

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Cunningham Communication for HP

Holly Duncan, 408/447-1665

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