GOVERNMENT

PALO ALTO, CA -- HP (NYSE:HPQ) today announced record-breaking online transaction processing (OLTP) and data warehousing benchmark results on its HP Superdome server running 64 PA-8700+ processors, the HP-UX 11i operating system and HP StorageWorks VA7100 disk arrays. HP now holds the distinction of being the only high-end server vendor in the industry to publish both single-system Oracle TPC-C (OLTP) and TPC-H 3 terabyte benchmarks, clearly demonstrating the HP Superdome server's outstanding performance and value. These results mark the next step towards HP's goal of doubling the server's performance by 2003. "Any company can publish a good result for a single benchmark, but publishing world record benchmarks across several workloads tests the limits of a server," said Mark Hudson, worldwide marketing manager, HP Business Critical Systems. "The fact that neither IBM nor Sun have published both benchmarks raises serious questions about the abilities of their high-end servers to deliver strong performance across varied workloads." HP Superdome Server Breaks Online Transaction Processing Record The HP Superdome server set a new world record for single-system Oracle-based TPC-C with a result of 423,414 tpmC at $15.64/tpmC (transactions per minute). TPC-C simulates a complete computing environment in which a population of users executes transactions against a database. In addition to its performance leadership, the HP Superdome server delivers a lower cost per transaction with a 12 percent price/performance advantage over the IBM p690 server. "The advantage of open systems is that vendors such as HP and Oracle can actively compete to deliver superior performance to their customers," said Richard Sarwal, vice president of server performance, Oracle Corporation. "HP's benchmark results demonstrate to customers that Oracle and open systems can deliver both superior performance and cost savings versus the competition." Outperforming All Competitors' Data Warehousing Solutions in TPC-H 3 TB Benchmark TPC-H simulates decision support systems that examine large volumes of data, execute queries with a high degree of complexity and give answers to critical business questions. The HP Superdome server result of 27,094 QphH (queries per hour) for a 64-processor system is 14 percent faster than Sun's 72-processor result for the SunFire 15K and establishes a 28 percent performance advantage on a processor-by-processor basis. The HP Superdome server also was able to outperform the NCR/Teradata Worldmark system, a dedicated data warehousing server with 128-processors, by 44 percent in raw performance, 195 percent in per processor performance and with four times better price/performance. In addition to demonstrating the power and scalability of HP Superdome servers and the HP-UX 11i operating system, these benchmarks illustrate the excellent performance and price/performance value of HP StorageWorks VA7100 disk arrays. Applications Run Faster Across the Board "When evaluating enterprise servers, it's essential to consider performance across multiple applications and varied workloads. Too often vendors cherry-pick just one or two favorable results," said Jonathan Eunice, principal analyst and IT advisor, Illuminata, Inc. "HP's latest Superdome numbers are impressive because they stress multiple dimensions and show first-rate performance on every one." Today's record performance results add to the growing list of world records the HP Superdome server already holds. Whether using Web-based applications, enterprise-wide solutions, business intelligence or simple transaction processing, customers can expect faster response and higher value from their investments with HP Superdome servers, relative to IBM p690 and Sun SunFire 15K servers. "The superior performance and scalability of HP Superdome servers enable us to handle the increases in transaction volumes as we grow our business, while the improved price/performance of the PA-8700+ processors delivers a greater return on our investment," said Alejandro Bombaci, chief information office, Empresas Polar. "We've just deployed two new 64-way Superdome servers with 56 processors each at the heart of our IT infrastructure and HP's commitment to continuous performance improvements provides us with a rock-solid platform and unparalleled investment protection. We especially like the in-box upgradability to future Itanium and PA-RISC processors." Investment Protection and Multiple Operating Environments Today's announcement is the latest step in a series of significant, in-chassis performance improvements and processor upgrades planned when the HP Superdome server was first launched. Superdome servers will be upgradeable to future generations of PA-RISC as well as to the Intel® Itanium® processor family, allowing for multiple operating environments to coexist in a single Superdome server. To date, the Superdome server has successfully booted HP-UX, Windows .Net and Linux on a single server running multiple operating environments simultaneously in separate partitions at HP's development facilities. HP is also on track to boot OpenVMS on an Itanium-based system by the end of the year.