RLX Technologies Redefines Server Economics With Industry's First High Density, Low Power Web Servers; Features New ServerBlade Design.

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HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 8, 2001

Customers gain 8X density advantage - 5X-10X power savings

Setting an innovative new standard for server design, density, energy efficiency and speed of deployment, RLX Technologies(TM) today announced that it is beginning shipments of its RLX System 324(TM) Web server solution. The RLX System 324 is a complete Web server solution, delivered with pre-loaded software for rapid deployment by both small Web Hosting facilities and Internet Data Centers. RLX is the first company to ship Transmeta(TM) Crusoe(TM) powered blade-type servers and the first company to ship a RLX Windows Powered Web Server solution based on the just-released Microsoft Server Appliance Kit 2.0.

RLX also announced agreements with IBM in which IBM will sell the RLX System 324 to its Internet Data Center customers and will supply components for the server, including IBM disk drives.

"We expect 2001 to emerge as the year server blades gain acceptance in the marketplace and while other hardware vendors have expressed interest in the emerging opportunity, RLX has moved quickly with the RLX System 324 Web server to address this growing demand," said John Humphreys of research firm IDC. "RLX's management team has a history of success, and its new ServerBlade stands to make a significant mark on the industry. With its focus on Web Hosting companies and Internet Data Centers -- and the fact that it alleviates the critical density and power issues facing these customers -- RLX has positioned itself as a leader in the blade market."

The RLX System 324 features a unique RLX ServerBlade(TM) design that allows significantly higher numbers of servers to be installed in a single, industry standard server rack -- up to 336 in a single rack. RLX engineers have designed energy efficient components around the low power, cool-running Transmeta Crusoe x86 compatible microprocessor, enabling these new servers to gain unprecedented density levels. The new RLX System 324 servers are unencumbered by the heat constraints of traditional servers and each server blade requires only 15 watts of power to operate, delivering five to ten times the power efficiency of previous products.

"The System 324 shatters today's Web server density barriers and power usage requirements," said Gary Stimac, RLX Technologies CEO. "With our pre-loaded software solutions, our customers can have a Web server up and running in minutes. The impact of the new RLX ServerBlade design will be felt for years to come and will truly redefine server economics."

Note: For comparison purposes, today's state-of-the-art Web server is a 1U (1.75 inch high), server. A single 6-foot Data Center rack can house 42, 1U servers.

Elegant Design Innovation

    --  Density: 8x advantage

        --  Up to 24 ServerBlades in a single 3U chassis or 336 in a
            single rack

        --  Up to 20 Terabytes of primary storage per server rack

        --  Three Fast Ethernet connections per server blade

    --  Power Savings: 5x - 10x advantage

        --  Under the most demanding applications, each ServerBlade
            uses only 15 Watts versus 75 Watt requirements of
            traditional 1U servers

        --  Up to 80% less heat generated, reducing HVAC needs

        --  Up to 80% less power consumed

    --  Rapid Deployment: Customers add servers in minutes vs. hours
        or days

        --  Pre-loaded, Web server software: either RLX Windows
            Powered Web Server or RLX Linux Web Server

        --  Hot plug server design, and no tools required to add
            servers

        --  End-user Web administration tool

    --  Easy To Manage and Maintain: Enabled system management

        --  Dedicated systems management network

        --  RLX Control Tower(TM) management software

        --  Hot pluggable, redundant power supplies/ServerBlades

    --  Reliability

        --  Shared resources provide fewer potential points of failure

            --  18:1 fan reduction

            --  2 redundant power supplies shared across 24 servers

            --  12:1 reduction in cabling -- only 5 cables per 24
                servers

        --  Simple blade design

"Today's turbulent business environment intensifies the mandate for operations efficiency," said RLX Technologies President & COO Mike Swavely. "Both small Web Hosting facilities and larger Internet Data Centers are being severely impacted by the rising cost of energy and the overhead costs associated with deploying Web server solutions for new customers. With today's introduction, we're empowering Web Hosting companies and Internet Data Centers to take control and reduce the economic barriers to revenue and profitability growth. Our new ServerBlade solution maximizes Web pages served per square foot, minimizes operation costs and can be rapidly deployed in minutes," Swavely noted.

"Partnering with RLX will extend IBM's range of offerings to our customers in the service provider and hosting segments," said Rod Adkins, General Manager, Web Servers, IBM Server Group. "As customers build out their e-infrastructures, super dense servers are an emerging technology that promises to play a significant role in the delivery of Linux applications to our customers."

RLX Redefines Data Center Efficiencies: 8x Greater Density; 6x Lower Operational Costs; 4x More Web Pages Served Per Sq. Ft.

By understanding the economic issues and business models of Web Hosting companies and Internet Data Centers, RLX Technologies applied high density, low power engineering efforts to increase customer's revenue and profitability without increasing their power budgets or facilities/infrastructure costs.

In projecting facility power budgets for each industry standard 42U server rack, Web Hosting facilities and Internet Data Centers typically allocate either 2,400 Watts or 5,000 Watts. Products such as the Cobalt 4i, Cobalt 4R XTR, and Compaq DL320 can physically accommodate 42 1U servers in a standard rack while the RLX System 324 can fit 336 of its individual ServerBlades in the same size rack.

Using the industry's broadly accepted ZD WebBench Peak Request Load Measure and the assumption of a 2,400 Watt power budget project, customers gain tremendous productivity advantages, in terms of Web pages served per second within that power budget, as demonstrated below.

              RLX System 324   Cobalt 4i  Cobalt 4R XTR  Compaq DL 320
              --------------   ---------  -------------  -------------
No. of Servers       122             42           26             25
Watts/Server        15.7           34.4         72.0           76.4
Pages/Sec/Server    1466            208          916           1706
Pages/Sec/Rack   178,852          8,736       23,816         42,650
             Baseline (100%)        4.9%        13.3%          23.8%
RLX Advantage                        20x           8x             4x

Again using the above configurations with the ZD WebBench Peak Request Load to measure the Web pages served per second, occupying the same amount of space and using the same amount of power, the RLX System 324 allows Web Hosting companies and Internet Data Centers to achieve a significant increase in both monthly revenue and customer Web pages served. This translates into a new economic model that increases the customer's revenue and profitability:

     Monthly Revenue/SqFt                 Web Pages/Sec/SqFt
     --------------------                 ------------------
RLX System 324           $1952     RLX System 324            7154
Cobalt RaQ4i              $672     Cobalt RaQ4i               350
Compaq Proliant DL320     $400     Compaq Proliant DL320     1706

Note: The above comparisons are based on a 10,000 square foot Data Center with average revenue per month per server of $400 and with maximum power usage limited to 80% of the 2400 Watt circuit capacity per rack.

The System 324 achieves an even greater advantage when the 5,000 Watts per-rack power budget is used, and this advantage increases as the total number of servers installed increases.

First to Ship Transmeta-Based Blade-Type Servers

"RLX is blazing the path as the first company to ship a Transmeta Crusoe-based ServerBlade," said Mark Allen, President & CEO of Transmeta. "The combination of the power savings from the Crusoe design, coupled with the innovative ServerBlade packaging could set a new standard for Web servers. Transmeta is committed to the server marketplace and will continue to drive forward the performance of the Crusoe processors."

Leading Server Operating System Support

"Microsoft applauds RLX Technologies on being the first high density, low power Web server vendor to deliver support for Microsoft Windows 2000 server product," said Brian Valentine, Senior Vice President, Windows Division, Microsoft Corporation. "The combination of RLX Technologies innovative technology and Windows 2000 provides customers with a leading edge solution and is an important step forward in the evolution of Web servers."

ISV (Industry Software Vendor) Support

The RLX System 324 Web server solution has been in the hands of several key software vendors and beta customers for performance and application testing.

"We were able to bring up our Scyld Beowulf clustering system within minutes on the RLX ServerBlade," said Don Becker, CTO of Scyld Computing Corporation. "This new revolutionary Web server platform will provide our partners with greater configuration flexibility and breakthrough price performance and density. Scyld's Beowulf clustering system is a natural fit for this type of computer architecture given its automatic scaling, ease of administration, and optional disk-less operation."

Pricing and Availability

The overall system flexibility of the RLX System 324 Web server solution allows Web Hosting and Internet Data Center customers the opportunity to choose from several pre-configured bundles or the choice of a build-to-order selection. The RLX System 324 supports a broad range of leading Operating System choices. Customers can select from:

-- Pre-loaded RLX Windows Powered Web Server

-- Pre-loaded RLX Linux Web Server, Mail Server and RLX Control Tower
Management Software

-- Microsoft Windows 2000 Server and Advanced Server support

-- Red Hat Linux 6.2 or 7.0 support, (7.1 certification pending)

Financing will be available to qualified RLX customers through IBM Global Financing.

RLX is making a limited time, introductory offer that ends July 31, 2001: (See pricing sheet for standard pricing/limit of one promotional unit per customer)

$4,999
1-RLX System 324 chassis with 2 power supplies;
3-ServerBlades, each with a 633MHz processor, 256 MB RAM, 10 GB disk,
Pre-loaded with RLX Windows Powered Web server software.

$4,499
1-RLX System 324 chassis with 2 power supplies;
3-ServerBlades, each with a 633MHz processor, 256 MB RAM, 10 GB disk,
Pre-loaded with RLX Linux Web server software.

RLX is now taking orders for the new System 324 Web server and has begun shipments in the U.S. this week. Orders can be placed directly through the RLX Sales Group at 866/759-9866 or on the Web at www.rlxtechnologies.com. International availability is scheduled for next year.

About RLX Technologies, Inc.

Headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas, RLX Technologies is delivering a new class of server products using the Transmeta Crusoe processor that will dramatically recast the dynamics of the server marketplace. The RLX System 324 Web server offers new innovative technology advances that break new ground in addressing the economic challenges faced by data center customers, including: space, power consumption, heat, reliability, deployment time and capital utilization. For information about RLX Technologies, check out our Web site at www.rlxtechnologies.com.

            RLX Technologies System 324 Web Server Solution
                           Pricing -- 5/8/01

Limited Time Introductory promotion:

$4,999
1-RLX System 324 chassis with 2 power supplies;
3-ServerBlades, each with a 633MHz processor, 256 MB RAM, 10 GB disk,
3 NICs Pre-loaded with RLX Windows Powered Web server software.

$4,499
1-RLX System 324 chassis with 2 power supplies;
3-ServerBlades, each with a 633MHz processor, 256 MB RAM, 10 GB disk,
3 NICs Pre-loaded with RLX Linux Web server software.

Standard Pricing:

RLX System 324 chassis:
2 power supplies; 4 RJ21 connectors                  $2,599

ServerBlade Pricing:

633MHz processor, 256 MB RAM, 10 GB drive,           $1,719
pre-loaded with RLX Windows Powered

633MHz processor, 512 MB RAM, 10 GB drive,           $2,069
pre-loaded with RLX Windows Powered

633MHz processor, 512 MB RAM, 30 GB drive,           $2,369
pre-loaded with RLX Windows Powered

633MHz processor, 128 MB RAM, 10 GB drive,
pre-loaded with RLX Linux                            $1,449

633MHz processor, 256 MB RAM, 10 GB drive,
pre-loaded with RLX Linux                            $1,549

633MHz processor, 512 MB RAM, 10 GB drive,
pre-loaded with RLX Linux                            $1,899

633MHz processor, 512 MB RAM, 30 GB drive,
pre-loaded with RLX Linux                            $2,199

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