HP Introduces Most Powerful Generation of AlphaServer Systems Also Unveils Alpha RetainTrust Program Providing Customers Immediate Benefits, Long-term Operational Continuity Palo Alto, Calif. -- Jan. 20, 2003 -- HP (NYSE:HPQ) today introduced its newest generation of AlphaServer systems including the most powerful system to date, the HP AlphaServer GS1280. Based on the new EV7 Alpha processor, the servers represent the most technically advanced AlphaServer family to date, building on a decade of innovation and leadership in high-performance server systems. Currently shipping, the new systems provide AlphaServer customers with immediate benefits through a powerful combination of performance, scalability, reliability, manageability and availability features. HP also announced the Alpha RetainTrust program, underscoring the company's commitment to providing long-term operational business continuity for its customers. A key element of the program is its focus on partners -- the vast majority of HP's AlphaServer independent software vendors have committed to support Tru64 UNIX® and OpenVMS environments for the long term. "Early response from customers and ISV partners to these new systems has been enthusiastic," said Scott Stallard, vice president, HP Business Critical Systems. "As part of our customers' adaptive infrastructure, we believe these systems are critical in meeting their needs for the next two to four years. We are providing them with the foundation for a long-term future with HP by offering immediate benefit today and helping them prepare to evolve to Itanium processor-based HP servers." "As a long-time customer, we are very excited about the new AlphaServer technology and the future we have with HP," said Gary Carter, director of ITS production for Dollar Rent A Car Systems, the industry leader in leisure rentals. "We put great demands on our AlphaServer systems. They handle some 10 to 20 million transactions or queries a day on our Oracle databases. The new AlphaServer systems will give us the increased performance and scalability we need to grow our business and better serve our customers as we develop new applications and deliver new functionality." New AlphaServer Family The new AlphaServer family includes the high-end GS1280 enterprise server, the ES80 departmental server and the ES47 workgroup systems. Tru64 UNIX and OpenVMS are available on all the new systems and Linux is also available on the AlphaServer ES47 and ES80 systems. The first AlphaServer models, including 16-processor GS1280 systems, shipped earlier this month, with larger GS1280 systems ranging up to 64 Alpha processors to follow later this year. In addition, AlphaServer systems based on enhanced EV79 Alpha processor technology are planned for introduction in 2004. "We are absolutely impressed by the performance that the new AlphaServer GS1280 delivers for our Wall Street Systems banking application. Timely, end-of-day roll up is a challenge for many financial operations. The GS1280 dramatically accelerates this process and cuts the time required in half," said Karin Spevak, manager IT, Financial Markets Information Service, WAVE Solutions Information Technology GmbH., a Bank Austria Creditanstalt company. The new Alpha EV7 processor is specifically designed to dramatically improve application performance. The processor contains all the building blocks of a symmetric-multiprocessing (SMP) system, including system interconnects, on a single chip to substantially provide improved performance and single system scalability and reliability. In addition, the systems use an industry-first "switch-less" mesh architecture that connects AlphaServer processors directly to one another, delivering true linear scalability to 64 processors and beyond, along with significantly increased system reliability in conjunction with hardware and software enhancements. Enhanced versions of Tru64 UNIX V5.1B and TruCluster Server software, also introduced today, have been shipping since November. The HP OpenVMS V7.3-1 operating system, which has been shipping since August, also has been enhanced to take full advantage of the capabilities of the new AlphaServer systems. Enhancements in both environments improve application performance and system scalability, availability and manageability. This has been done while preserving binary compatibility to protect customer investments and ensure long-term operational and business continuity. "With our joint customers' businesses growing and getting more complex, they look forward to greater system performance for their applications," said Doug Kennedy, vice president, Platform Alliances, System Platforms Division, Oracle Corporation. "The Oracle and HP alliance has an excellent history of providing solutions that excel at addressing these needs. The next-generation EV7-based AlphaServer systems from HP will enable us to continue to meet our customers' most demanding Oracle9i Database and application performance requirements." Alpha RetainTrust Program The HP Alpha RetainTrust program takes an unprecedented approach to satisfying customers' needs for long-term capacity and growth by jointly planning and actively supporting their smooth evolution to new Itanium® architecture-based HP servers. The program is designed to strengthen HP's position as Alpha customers' trusted IT advisor by continuing to deliver business value moving forward with HP. The program provides a comprehensive set of initiatives, including products, infrastructure and industry ISV business solutions, services, and industry-leading business practices. "HP recognizes that customers need operational business continuity while they take advantage of new technologies," said Rich Marcello, vice president and general manager, HP Alpha Systems Division. "HP is setting the standard for customer satisfaction by delivering on its commitment to AlphaServer customers with the Alpha RetainTrust program, offering a smooth evolution to HP systems of the future." Dr. Michael Levine, scientific director, Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center, said, "These new AlphaServer systems deliver what we require. Not only do they deliver more usable bandwidth than anything else, the modularity of the system architecture in conjunction with its manageability makes this an outstanding platform for this decade. We continue to be delighted by the decision we made to use AlphaServer technology." Solid Benchmark Performance The new AlphaServer systems have established industry leadership in both the SPEC_rate2000 and the STREAM benchmarks, demonstrating their outstanding "whole" systems performance and ability to scale linearly. The SPEC_rate2000 results extend the performance of today's AlphaServer systems, particularly in technical computing where the benefits of the systems' technical innovations are well demonstrated with nearly 100 percent linear scalability from one to 16 processors.(1) In the STREAM benchmark, measuring sustainable memory bandwidth for computer systems, the AlphaServer GS1280 demonstrated five to 10 times greater memory bandwidth than comparable systems from IBM and Sun.(2) Pricing and Availability The high-end HP AlphaServer GS1280 is now shipping in eight- and 16- (1.15-GHz) Alpha processor-based systems with estimated U.S. list prices starting at $117,000. GS1280 systems with 32 processors are expected to be available mid-year and 64-processor systems by the end of the year. AlphaServer ES80 departmental systems with up to eight 1-Ghz Alpha processors are expected to start shipping in March with estimated U.S. list prices starting at $81,000. The ES47 workgroup systems also are available now and come in two and four 1-Ghz Alpha processor configurations with estimated U.S. list prices starting at $39,700.(3) Further information on the new AlphaServer systems is available at http://h18003.www1.hp.com/hps/announce/jan_03.html 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 Corporation on May 3, 2002. More information about HP is available at http://www.hp.com ============================================================================== (1) SPECcpu2000: Competitive benchmark scores reflect results published on http://www.spec.org as of Jan. 15, 2003. (2) STREAM: Sustainable Memory Bandwidth in High Performance Computers http://www.cs.virginia.edu/stream/ (3) Actual prices may vary. UNIX is a registered trademark of the Open Group. Itanium is a registered trademark of Intel Corp. or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. Oracle is a registered U.S. trademark of Oracle Corp., Redwood City, Calif. ============================================================================== 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 and performance 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 July 31, 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 to update these forward-looking statements.