News release

HP Extends HP e-Utilica Plug-and-play Storage Capacity-on-demand for Service Providers

PALO ALTO, Calif., Jan. 23, 2001

The turnkey HP e-utilica solution now supports HP Surestore Disk Array XP512 and XP48 storage, enabling service providers to offer customers definable storage partitions over the Internet. This storage capability further expands the resources service providers can make available to customers with HP e-utilica. The solution also supports on-demand compute capacity for HP-UX(1), Windows® 2000 and NT® and Linux or for a combination of the operating systems.

"HP e-utilica, the world's first plug-and-play Internet data center, offers service providers the flexibility they need to meet the changing needs of customers," said Matt Oberdorfer, worldwide marketing manager, scalable computing solutions, HP Technical Computing Division. "The ability to offer storage capacity is a key competitive advantage for service providers who want to offer customers innovative ways to control costs."

HP e-utilica allows service providers to launch applications-on-tap, capacity-on-demand or Internet hosting services, renting out compute and storage capacity to their customers in a highly secure way. Users can easily and securely tap into an application service provider to meet peak needs for additional computation and application resources, without investing in expensive hardware and support.

"Our first impression of HP e-utilica was that it was a perfect fit," said Jim Gutowski, vice president and general manager, Cohere Networks' Discrete Manufacturing and Engineering Division. "We are able to instantly ignite resources and to allocate those resources dynamically to our customers. HP e-utilica gave us a new way to reach customers."

HP e-utilica comprises an administration rack, multiple compute racks (from 4 to 20) and/or storage racks in a space-saving 2-meter form factor. The administration rack, which connects the compute power to the Internet, delivers high-level security, management and VPN administration functions. The compute racks can accommodate up to 20 compute systems, delivering headroom for scalable performance and capacity, as needed.

Pricing and Availability

HP e-utilica is available now with an estimated U.S. street price starting at $500,000(2).

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 individuals and businesses through simple appliances, useful e-services and an Internet infrastructure that's always on.

HP has 88,500 employees worldwide and had total revenue from continuing operations of $48.8 billion in its 2000 fiscal year. Information about HP and its products can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.hp.com.

UNIX is a registered trademark of the Open Group.

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

(1) 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.

(2) Actual prices may vary.