press release

HP Extends Linux and Open Standards Leadership with New Blade Servers

PALO ALTO, Calif., Dec. 4, 2001

Hewlett-Packard Company (NYSE:HWP) is spearheading a new approach to the expansion of the blade server market with the development of a range of new offerings based on the widely used Linux operating system and the CompactPCI® (cPCI)⁽¹⁾ open standard. (See related announcement, "HP Ushers In Future of Web Access Computing with Blade Servers.")

HP's blade series includes servers, storage, appliance, network, switch and management blades, and is supported by HP's end-to-end service offerings to further reduce the management burden. By supporting cPCI and running Linux on its blade architecture, HP will be able to accelerate the delivery of compatible products that work with HP blade products, giving customers greater efficiency and cost effectiveness for Internet data center applications.

"HP is laying a strong foundation for far-reaching industry impact with its open standards-based, server blade technology running on the Linux operating system, a move we see as critical to blade server success," said Frank Perna, chairman and chief executive officer, MSC.Software. "Businesses will certainly benefit from these innovations. We expect the emerging solutions to expand and evolve making this just the beginning of a new way of blade architecture."

Blades Are Ideal Platform for Linux Users

Because Linux is very lightweight, has lower memory requirements and makes better use of CPU power, it is an ideal operating system for blade servers, which require flexibility and scalability in highly constrained environments due to heat restrictions. The Linux operating system already runs 30 percent of all Internet Web servers and 61 percent of boundary servers.

HP is enabling customers to manage their server blade resources seamlessly, by providing Linux-based management solutions that deliver a reliable, easy-to-service environment to further enable a customer's always-on Internet infrastructure. System and management tools such as HP OpenView, HP MC/Serviceguard and HP Toptools deliver a simplified computing environment by integrating monitoring and control across all compute, storage, software and network infrastructure resources.

"HP pioneered bringing enterprise-level functionality to Linux via its superb management and security offerings," said Martin Fink, general manager, HP Linux Systems Operation. "In order to be successful in the rapidly expanding blades market, companies require prime-time management tools and HP has provided just that by porting its existing management tools from HP-UX and Windows to Linux."

HP will also provide a choice of Linux distributions, including Red Hat, SuSE and Debian immediately, with other distributions following in the second half of 2002. For more information on HP Linux initiatives, visit http://www.hp.com/linux.

HP plans to introduce blades that support the Microsoft® and HP-UX operating systems in the first half of 2002.

About HP

Hewlett-Packard Company -- a leading global provider of computing and imaging solutions and services -- is focused on making technology and its benefits accessible to all. HP had total revenue of $45.2 billion in its 2001 fiscal year. Information about HP and its products can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.hp.com.

⁽¹⁾ CompactPCI is a standard for PCI bus-based computers, developed by the PCI Industrial Computer Manufacturers Group, for use in industrial and telecommunications applications. It is electrically equivalent to the desktop PCI bus with a different physical form factor. It has additional features beyond desktop PCI, including the ability to hot swap boards without shutting the system down, the ability to route additional sub-buses over the backplane and the ability to connect large amounts of I/O from a plug-in board through the backplane and out the rear of a chassis. The first CompactPCI specification was published in 1995, and in recent years several important extensions have been added, including the Hot Swap Specification and the CompactPCI Computer Telephony Specification. Further information is available from http://www.picmg.com.

HP-UX Release 10.20 and later and HP-UX Release 11.00 and later (in both 32? and 64-bit configurations) on all HP 9000 computers are Open Group UNIX 95 branded products.

UNIX is a registered trademark of the Open Group.

Microsoft and Windows are U.S. registered trademarks of Microsoft Corp.

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 the annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended Oct. 31, 2000, 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.