Novell's UnixWare 2 Sets New World Record For Database Price-Performance In TPC-C Benchmark Test

UnixWare 2 To Ship on Compaq's SmartStart

SAN JOSE, CA--May 22, 1995-- Novell, Inc. today announced that the UnixWare® 2 Application Server has set a new world record for database server price-performance in the industry-standard Transaction Processing and Performance Council/C (TPC-C) benchmark test. UnixWare 2 achieved the record by running with Sybase SQL Server 10 software on a 4-processor Compaq ProLiant 4500 server. UnixWare 2 also set a new world record for absolute performance with the Sybase SQL Server 10 on an Intel-based platform. In a separate announcement released today, Compaq announced its intention to ship UnixWare 2 on its SmartStart program for building tested and reliable servers, in the second half of 1995.

Compared to the old TPC-C record, the new record reduces the cost per transaction from $440 to $319, representing a customer cost savings of 28%. This TPC-C world record follows on UnixWare 2's recently announced industry-leading price and absolute performance measurements on benchmark tests conducted by AIM Technology, a leading independent performance testing service for UNIX systems. UnixWare 2's standard-setting price-performance leadership enables customers to implement enterprise database solutions, while taking advantage of the latest advances and cost savings associated with industry-standard hardware platforms.

TPC-C is the highest rating class for database transactions per minute (TPM) in the industry. The UnixWare 2/Compaq Sybase absolute performance score of 1516.77 TPMs represents mainframe-class performance that surpasses many of the far more expensive RISC servers in the marketplace. As a result, customers can use UnixWare 2 and other high-volume, low-cost components to build their enterprise systems, delivering performance and productivity gains once only achievable with large-scale proprietary systems.

"We are very excited that our close relationship with Compaq and Sybase has resulted in these record TPC-C numbers," said Mike DeFazio, executive vice president and general manager of Novell's UNIX Systems Group. "Along with Compaq and Sybase, Novell has proven that high-volume, industry-standard hardware and software can deliver world-record performance. Our customers can now deploy enterprise systems configured from readily available products and save up to hundreds of thousands of dollars per system."

"We are thrilled to receive world-record performance for Sybase SQL Server 10 along with Novell and Compaq," said David Sohm, vice president, channels and partner marketing, Sybase Inc. "By working together with these companies in tuning our products specifically for their environment, we are giving our customers what they have been asking for: a complete hardware/software combination with mainframe-class client/server performance at reduced PC prices. This benchmark also further confirms the performance leadership customers have come to expect from Sybase SQL Server."

In addition to world-record performance, UnixWare 2 offers customers the best general-purpose platform for business-critical and database applications and is the preferred application server for NetWare environments. UnixWare is supported directly by more than 3,500 commercial applications and is compatible with over 10,000 UNIX-based database applications, providing the industry's leading platform for business-critical applications. These applications range from financial services and point-of-sale, to database, software development and workgroup productivity applications.

Novell's UnixWare 2 To Ship on Compaq's SmartStart

For the past 18 months, Compaq and Novell also have worked on a joint development effort, making the Compaq ProLiant family one of the key development platforms for UnixWare 2. Compaq's agreement to OEM UnixWare 2 on SmartStart will ensure customers can implement a fully tested, integrated and tuned version of UnixWare 2 on Compaq's ProLiant platform. SmartStart is Compaq's intelligent integration tool for building tested and reliable severs. All Compaq servers, including the ProSignia family of workgroup servers, will receive certification through the Novell "Yes" branding program for UnixWare and NetWare.

"Compaq's partnership with Novell will ensure our joint customers benefit from the heavy investment we have made in the areas of performance, integration, system tuning and reliability for UnixWare 2," said Gary Stimac, senior vice president and general manager, Compaq Systems Division. "When customers integrate UnixWare 2 on Compaq's ProLiant systems using SmartStart, they will experience the benefits of the Compaq/Novell partnership in the enterprise UNIX application- servers they install."

UnixWare 2, including English, French, Italian, German and Spanish language versions, is available worldwide through Novell's authorized distributors. A Japanese language version of UnixWare 2 is available from Novell K.K. For more information, customers should contact their local Novell authorized reseller or call 1-800-638-9273 in the U.S. or 801-429-5588 outside the U.S. UnixWare 2 will start shipping on SmartStart, which comes standard with every Compaq server, during the second half of 1995. The above mentioned language versions (excluding Japanese) will be supported on SmartStart. For more information on Compaq's SmartStart, customers can call 1-800-345-1518.

Novell's UNIX Systems Group (USG) develops and markets the UnixWare family of computing solutions. UnixWare is a powerful, cost-effective UNIX operating system that runs on industry-standard hardware, ideal for deploying business-critical and database applications across the enterprise. It represents the newest generation of UNIX System V Release 4 technology, originally developed by UNIX Systems Laboratories. By combining unmatched applications availability, price/performance, scalability and network readiness, UnixWare provides an application server businesses can trust.