Business Editors/High-tech Writers

New SSL Encryption Hardware Speeds Throughput up to 20X

for ProLiant and AlphaServer Systems

HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 18, 2000

Extending its Compaq NonStop(TM) eBusiness solutions strategy, Compaq Computer Corporation (NYSE: CPQ) today announced new hardware-based encryption technology.

Customers who need secure, encrypted transaction processing -- without today's performance delays -- now have a solution. Compaq's new AXL200 Accelerator PCI hardware dramatically accelerates, by up to 20 times, the SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) processing, which is necessary to ensure the privacy and security of transactions.

The SSL processing acceleration and the restoration of full server performance enables e-businesses, particularly "e-tailers" and "dot-coms," to continue growing their Internet-based businesses without compromising the security of transactions.

Many e-businesses experience a throughput bottleneck because Web servers must secure every transaction with compute-intensive encryption processing. With heavy transaction volume, server performance can deteriorate badly, and the resulting bottleneck can discourage consumers from completing a valuable transaction.

Compaq's AXL200 Accelerator PCI card solves the problem by offloading the encryption processing from the host CPU. With the AXL200 Accelerator PCI card performing the cryptographic function on separate processors, overall system throughput is increased dramatically, typically by a factor of up to 10 to 20 times.

Ray Villareal, vice president and general manager, Marketing and Solutions, Enterprise Solutions and Services Group, said, "This is market-leading security technology. It gives Compaq ProLiant and AlphaServer systems a very real competitive edge in the e-business market for e-commerce server applications such as Microsoft Windows2000 IIS and Novell NDS 8.0 Directory Services products, as well as the open source Apache server product."

Villareal continued, "For many years, Compaq has provided the world's most advanced cryptographic solutions for large banks and financial institutions. Now, we are leveraging that same expertise for a new and much larger group of customers, including e-businesses, that need the same combination of security and high-speed performance."

Ben Anderson, vice president, Common Technologies Group, Novell, Inc., said, "Novell has optimized NDS eDirectory to better utilize the performance advantages provided by the Compaq AXL 200 Accelerator PCI card. As a result, we've seen a dramatic increase in NDS throughput by offloading SSL authentication tasks. Customers that are using NDS eDirectory within large enterprises will definitely sit-up and take notice -- this combination of products takes NDS performance and scalability to even greater heights."

Hardware-based security technology from Compaq is utilized at more than 1,300 financial institutions worldwide, to secure more than US$2 trillion each day through the bank payment networks.

AXL200 Accelerator PCI Delivers Unmatched SSL Performance

The Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol is the de facto cryptographic standard for the Internet. The leading Web server products, including Microsoft's IIS, Netscape's NES, and open source Apache, depend on SSL to provide the encryption that ensures privacy and security for a wide variety of transactions, including e-commerce payments, legal documents, and internal communications.

To handle the burgeoning volume of Internet-based transactions, there is a rapidly growing market for products that accelerate SSL processing. Compaq's AXL200 card delivers more than 240 SSL connections per second, which delivers a cost per SSL connection per second of only US$10. Other solutions deliver a price/performance metric two and three times that of the Compaq AXL200 Accelerator PCI card.

The AXL200 Accelerator PCI card includes 24 special purpose processors that run in parallel to cost-effectively accelerate SSL processing. Multiple AXL200 Accelerator PCI cards can be combined to provide linear scalability.

The AXL200 Accelerator PCI card runs on Intel based servers running Microsoft Windows NT(R) Server 4.0 and Windows(R) 2000. It supports Sun Solaris 2.6 on Sparc systems. It will support Linux in the future. In addition, the AXL200 Accelerator PCI card provides exclusive support for Compaq ProLiant systems and AlphaServer systems running the Tru64 UNIX(R) operating system, as well as Novell Netware 5, including Novell Directory Services in pre-configured systems. The new product also provides support for the leading commercial Web servers, Netscape NES, Microsoft IIS, and open source Apache as a standalone add-in.

Compaq Background

Compaq Computer Corporation, a Fortune Global 100 company, is the second largest computer company in the world and the largest global supplier of computer systems. Compaq develops and markets hardware, software, solutions and services, including industry-leading enterprise computing solutions, fault-tolerant business-critical solutions, enterprise and network storage solutions, commercial desktop and portable products and consumer PCs. The company is an industry leader in environmentally friendly programs and business practices.

Compaq products are sold and supported in more than 100 countries through a network of authorized Compaq marketing partners and through direct sales. Customer support and information about Compaq and its products are available at http://www.compaq.com.

Note to Editors: Compaq, AlphaServer, ProLiant, NonStop and the Compaq logo, registered U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Tru64 is a trademark of Compaq Information Technologies Group, L.P. Microsoft, Windows, and Windows NT are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group in the U.S. and other countries. Other product names mentioned herein may be trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective companies. Technical specifications and availability are subject to change without notice.