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NEC Solutions America Sees Market Acceptance for 64-bit Servers Based on New Intel Itanium 2 Processor with 6M L3 Cache

Posted on: Monday, 30 June 2003, 06:00 CDT

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 30, 2003--NEC Solutions (America), Inc., a premier provider of integrated solutions for the "Connected Enterprise" in North America, reports strong and growing interest from corporate customers for its 64-bit servers, which utilize the powerful new Intel(R) Itanium(R) 2 processor with 6M L3 cache (code-named "Madison") announced today by Intel Corporation.

Positive customer response to NEC Solutions' 64-bit, 1000 Series servers has been seen across industry boundaries in wide-ranging applications, including datacenters, financial services, government and more. In most datacenter applications strategies are being implemented to move away from proprietary RISC-based systems in favor of industry standards-based systems. The new 1000 Series servers combine Intel and Windows compatibility with the tremendous performance gains received from Intel's new 64-bit processors running 64-bit operating systems and applications. Performance is further enhanced by NEC Solutions' high performance computing (HPC) technologies such as ccNUMA and crossbar switching, which dramatically improve memory and throughput speed, respectively.

During TPC benchmark testing, the NEC Solutions 1000 Series servers demonstrated performance and cost parity with many of the world's fastest, proprietary RISC-based systems. The TPC benchmark scores posted in April 2003 at www.tpc.org clearly showed that the NEC Solutions Itanium 2-based systems perform among the fastest in the world, particularly in applications where the proprietary systems previously held performance advantages. TPC-C is an industry-standard benchmark for measuring a system's processing performance based on an enterprise transaction model for handling orders.

"The Intel(R) Itanium(R) 2 processor with 6M L3 cache provides a significant performance boost for customers while allowing our 64-bit servers to come in at a price point well below that of proprietary RISC systems," said Larry Sheffield, senior vice president, NEC Solutions America. "Given the cost advantages of Intel's manufacturing process, and the fact that this is the first mass-produced 64-bit chip from the company, we expect the price/performance benefits to continue driving the market toward the EPIC architecture. Customer response makes it clear to us that even the highest end of the marketplace is ready to move away from the economic and technical traps of proprietary technologies."

Record TPC-C Benchmark with Intel(R) Itanium(R) 2 Processor with 6M L3 Cache

In April 2003 NEC Solutions America announced that a 32-processor server from NEC, based on the Intel(R) Itanium(R) 2 processor (6M), running Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition for 64-bit and Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Enterprise Edition (64-bit), achieved the world's best TPC-C(1) benchmark result for a non-clustered, 32-processor SMP server. These groundbreaking results demonstrate that the most demanding scalability and throughput requirements can be achieved on Windows and Intel based servers from NEC Solutions America.

The 514,034.72 tpmC transactions per minute (tpmC) benchmark score achieved by the NEC Express5800/1320Xc system was accomplished while using the Intel Itanium 2 processor (6M) (code named "Madison") running Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Enterprise Edition (64-bit) on Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition for 64-bit.

The benefits of 64-bit computing for commercial applications include 64-bit addressing of large-scale data sets. Systems using 32-bit technology today can address far fewer memory addresses than 64-bit systems, which can address hundreds of gigabytes of memory addresses. This provides outstanding system responsiveness for mission-critical enterprise applications. In addition to providing 64-bit memory addressing, NEC's design with the Intel Itanium 2 processor (6M) provides an expanded system bus, large number of registers and nearly unlimited virtual memory. The NEC Express5800/1000 server series has also been designed to incorporate future members of the Itanium processor family without requiring additional hardware upgrades, thus sustaining their leading edge technology edge at minimal costs. All attributes are key infrastructure benefits designed to take full advantage of Microsoft's 64-bit operating system and enterprise database application.

"Given the dramatic performance improvements associated with 64-bit computing, and the fact that 32- to 64-bit migration is made far easier with popular applications like Microsoft SQL Server, we're going to see more and more customers migrate to the 64 bit platform," said Rahim Kapadia, product manager, 64-bit systems, NEC Solutions America.

The high-performance NEC Express5800/1320Xc server, with 32 Intel(R) Itanium(R) 2 processors, is currently available for order North America. Limited product availability for systems configured as tested for the TPC benchmark tests is scheduled for August 2003. The NEC Express5800/1000 server series also includes 8-way and 16-way systems, which are available for order today. Further information about the server is available at www.nec64.com or by calling 866-632-3226. A white paper is available at http://servers.necsam.com/leads/WhitepaperInfo.cfm.

Intel(R) Itanium(R) 2 Processor with 6M L3 Cache (code named "Madison")

The Intel Itanium 2 processor with 6M L3 cache is the third in the Itanium processor family, a line of enterprise-class processors from Intel that brings the performance and volume economics of Intel(R) architecture to the most data-intensive business-critical and technical computing applications. Systems based on the Intel Itanium 2 processor (6M) are expected to deliver 30 to 50 percent more performance than today's Itanium-based systems.

About NEC Solutions (America), Inc.

NEC Solutions (America), Inc. is a premier provider of integrated solutions for the Connected Enterprise in North America. As an affiliate of NEC Corporation (NASDAQ: NIPNY) (FTSE: 6701q.1), NEC Solutions America taps into a global resource network to help clients leverage technology to achieve a competitive edge. From mobile enterprise computing systems, biometric security solutions, business intelligence, presentation systems, business service management and IT professional services, the expertise is delivered with the personal attention needed to address individual situations. With headquarters in Sacramento, California, NEC Solutions America maintains research, marketing, sales and support facilities throughout the United States. Information regarding NEC Solutions America can be found at www.necsolutions-am.com.

Editor's Note: Information and specifications are subject to change without notice. NEC is a registered trademark of NEC Corporation. Intel and Itanium are trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries. Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners. (C)2003 NEC Solutions (America), Inc. All rights reserved.

The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

(1) TPC-C is one of the Transaction Processing Performance Council's standard benchmarks for measuring computer system performance. Performance is evaluated based on a model of enterprise transaction processing. Benchmark results are expressed in terms of how many transactions are performed per minute (tpmC). NEC Express5800/1320Xc, 514,034.72 tpmC, $11.50/tpmC, with thirty two (32) Intel(R) Itanium(R) 2 processor 6M at 1.5 GHz, each with 6MB iL3 cache, running Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition 64-bit and Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Enterprise Edition 64-bit, with 512 GB RAM; Available: 10/22/2003.

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