HP Introduces Powerful, High-density Server and Supercomputer

More Than 1,000 New AlphaServer Systems Already Sold

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 28, 2002--HP (NYSE:HPQ - News) today introduced the HP AlphaServer DS20L server and HP AlphaServer SC20 supercomputer, which deliver to customers in fields as diverse as entertainment to defense the power of a supercomputer in a space-saving, rack-mounted configuration.

The systems further strengthen HP's position as the leader in the high-performance technical computing marketplace. According to industry research group International Data Corp., the combined market share of HP and Compaq represented 41.5 percent of the $5.06 billion high-performance computing market.(1) More than 1,000 of the HP AlphaServer DS20L servers have already been sold to customers throughout the world.

"In high-end film production, quality is key and projects live or die by the clock and our computer-generated feature film `Ice Age' was no exception. HP's AlphaServer systems helped us increase quality and shorten the design cycle," said Carl Ludwig, vice president of research and development, Blue Sky Studios. "With the HP AlphaServer DS20L we can expect even more power in a single rack, deliver the high-quality rendering that made `Ice Age' so unique, and do it even faster."

The HP AlphaServer DS20L server, based on the 1U high-density computing format, is 1 3/4 inches high, 19 inches wide and 20 inches deep. Each system contains two 64-bit Alpha processors with up to 2 GB of memory. As many as 40 DS20L servers with 80 Alpha processors can be combined in a single 6.5-foot-high rack-mounted configuration.

The HP AlphaServer SC20 is a scalable, single-image supercomputer based on DS20L building blocks. The SC20, which is available with HP Tru64 UNIX®, can combine up to 128 DS20L units via a high-speed interconnect and deliver up to 426 gigaflops of performance.

"The new HP AlphaServer DS20L doubles the per rack performance of the nearest competitor," said Troy Deel, lead engineer, Zeta Associates, Federal Program. "The ability to pack this much power into a small space will be very appealing to our government customers."

HP, the industry leader in clustering technology, also offers the AlphaServer DS20L in HP Tru64 UNIX and Linux clustered configurations with a broad variety of interconnects.

"To help us increase quality and shorten design cycles, we've combined dozens of AlphaServer DS series units in racks to create a very powerful, easy-to-manage system that works as one," said Mark Hill, manager of mid-range systems, Corning Inc. "The new HP AlphaServer DS20L gives us the opportunity to pack even more power into a single rack and deliver high-quality results faster."

The new HP AlphaServer DS20L systems, rated at 132 gigaflops of peak performance in a single rack, have produced the highest sustained performance per rack (a rating of 724 per processor) for high-density servers as measured by the industry-standard SPECfp_2000 benchmark.(2) The DS20L also produced outstanding results in the SPECint2000, SPECfp_rate2000 and Linpack benchmarks.

"The introduction of these high-density HP AlphaServer systems reaffirms our commitment to meeting the milestones we outlined to our customers in our AlphaServer product roadmap," said Rich Marcello, vice president and general manager, HP Alpha Systems Division. "These AlphaServer systems will be particularly significant for customers in areas such as government security, scientific research and automotive and aerospace engineering, which all need increasingly higher levels of performance but have space and cost constraints."

"The announcement of the HP AlphaServer DS20L is a strong indication of the company's ongoing commitment to the HPTC community and to the AlphaServer roadmap," said Debra Goldfarb, group vice president, Worldwide Systems and Servers, IDC.

"We see this product family enhancing HP's ability to support the broad range of technical computing requirements from the department up to terascale workloads. The DS20L further strengthens HP's overall portfolio of products, enabling the company to maintain a leadership position within the high-performance technical marketplace."

HP also plans to introduce a high-end HP AlphaServer family based on new Alpha EV7 processor technology later this year. The company has already begun previewing early versions of these systems with select customers and software partners.

Pricing for the HP AlphaServer DS20L system, complete with two Alpha processors, 512 MB of memory and 18.2 GB of disk storage, starts at an estimated U.S. street price of less than $18,000. The HP AlphaServer SC20 supercomputer with a base system of eight Alpha processors and 4 GB of memory is expected to begin shipping in August with an estimated U.S. street price starting at $290,000.(3)

Additional information on the new HP AlphaServer systems is available at http://www.hp.com/products/alphasystems.

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 merged with Compaq Computer Corp. on May 3, 2002. The merged company had combined revenue of approximately $81.7 billion in fiscal 2001 and operations in more than 160 countries. More information about HP is available at http://www.hp.com.

• (1) IDC, Worldwide High Performance Technical Computing Census, 2001.
• (2) The SPEC benchmark is designed to provide a comparative measure of compute-intensive performance across a range of hardware, using source code developed from real world applications.
• (3) Actual prices may vary.

UNIX is a registered trademark of the Open Group.

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 annual report on Form 10-K, as amended on January 30, 2002, for the fiscal year ended October 31, 2001, HP's quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended January 31, 2002 (as filed with the SEC on March 12, 2002) and subsequently filed reports. 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.

     HP
     Jim Dunlap, 508/467-2739
     jim.dunlap@hp.com