Compaq Delivers Midrange Functionality For Enterprise-Class Applications --
Highest Performance, Most Tightly Integrated, Easiest to Install Platforms
are Foundation for Broader Push into the Enterprise

HOUSTON, October 16, 1995 -- Delivering midrange functionality in its most
powerful, most tightly integrated servers to date, Compaq Computer
Corporation (NYSE:CPQ) today staked an even wider claim in the
fast-growing distributed enterprise computing marketplace. The new Compaq
ProLiant 4500 and Compaq ProLiant 4500 NT/Array Model -- the first server
product to ship with SmartStart integration of Microsoft BackOffice --
deliver the midrange-class performance and industry-leading
price:performance (as measured by TPC-C benchmarks) customers are seeking
for line-of-business applications.

Along with the new ProLiant 4500 133 MHz Pentium server and the ProLiant
4500 5/133 Model NT/Array -- which includes Microsoft BackOffice, Cheyenne
ARCserve for Windows NT, and a Compaq SMART SCSI Array Controller --
Compaq also announced the following hardware and software products:

* a ProLiant 1500 5/133 server featuring a Flex/SMP Dual Processor Board;

* three new processor board options; including the 5/133 ProLiant System
Processor Upgrade Board for the ProLiant 2000, 4000 and 4500 servers; the
5/133 Flex/SMP Dual Processor Board for the ProLiant 1500; and 5/120
ProSignia Processor Upgrade Board for the ProSignia 300 and 500 models;

* Compaq SmartStart v2.4 and Compaq Insight Manager v2.6.

Compaq continues to have the broadest range of server products, from
file/print servers to midrange-class platforms, and is the world's leading
vendor of industry standard servers.

In related announcements focused on the Global 2000 enterprise, market,
Compaq announced its strategy for delivering globally consistent service
and support to enterprise-class customers for its systems. The company
also announced its clustering product strategy, which outlines Compaq's
approach for providing scalable, highly available, affordable Server
Arrays which deliver all the traditional benefits associated with
clustering technology at price points associated with industry standard
servers.

COMPAQ AND MICROSOFT SET RECORD TPC-C PRICE:PERFORMANCE

The ProLiant 4500 5/133 delivers the midrange-class performance required
for demanding application server environments in a distributed enterprise
as well as the industry's best price:performance. The ProLiant 4500 5/133
with Microsoft SQL Server 6.0 running on Windows NT Server delivers
midrange-class transaction performance -- measured at 2454 tpmC -- and
record-setting price:performance of $242 per tpmC (NOTE 1) at nearly 50
percent (NOTE 2) less than other traditional midrange systems. These
results rival traditional midrange systems such as the HP 9000 K400 (2616
tpmC -- $550 per tpmC) and DEC's AlphaServer 4/275 (1709 tpmC -- $555 per
tpmC) at significantly lower price points.

With a transaction rate of 2454 transactions per minute, the Compaq
ProLiant and Microsoft SQL Server combination produced the highest
throughput ever for this class of product. Compaq achieved these results
with four Pentium 133 MHz CPUs simulating support of 2500 simultaneous
users. With these results, Compaq demonstrates that industry standard
servers running SQL Server can provide a viable solution for business
critical computing applications.

"This combination of industry standard hardware and software provides
customers with greatly increased levels of performance and
interoperability," said Jim Allchin, senior vice president, Business
Systems Division, Microsoft Corp. "These record results will clearly
accelerate the adoption of SQL Server 6.0, Microsoft BackOffice and Compaq
ProLiant servers in business-critical applications in business computing
environments."

ProLiant 4500 5/133 features include:

A60 percent performance boost over the ProLiant 4500 5/100;

(It's no surprise that Intel's iComp benchmarks indicate that the 133 MHz
Pentium processor is 30 percent faster than the 100 MHz Pentium processor
-- Compaq's 60 percent performance boost is achieved through its excellent
system integration capabilities);

* Scalability to four processors that accommodate the performance
requirements of transaction processing and other demanding applications

* 64 megabytes (MB) of advanced ECC memory, expandable to 1 gigabyte (GB);

* NetFlex-3/E ethernet network interface controller (NIC);

* Eight expansion slots, three removable media bays, and four (tower) or
five (rack) 3.5 inch half-height hot-pluggable drive bays with up to 21.5
GB internal storage -- 301 GB total storage

The ProLiant 4500 5/133 is available now with prices starting at about
$13,000.

COMPAQ PROLIANT AND MICROSOFT BACKOFFICE DELIVER

Earlier this year, Compaq and Microsoft announced an addition to their
long-standing strategic relationship which focused on providing tightly
integrated, high-availability client-server solutions. Today, Compaq is
furthering that focus by delivering the ProLiant 4500 5/133 NT/Array Model
that ships with Microsoft BackOffice version 1.5. Microsoft BackOffice
1.5, the first integrated server software suite, includes Microsoft SQL
Server version 6.0, Microsoft SNA Server version 2.11, Microsoft Systems
Management Server version 1.1 and Microsoft Mail Server version 3.5, which
all run on the Windows NT Server network operating system version 3.51.
Microsoft Mail Server will provide a direct upgrade path to Microsoft
Exchange Server, the client-server messaging system.

The ProLiant 4500 NT/Array Model, being offered in North America and Europe
only, delivers the unparalleled value, superior performance and high
availability customers want in an application server. By shipping
Microsoft BackOffice on the ProLiant 4500 NT/Array Model, Compaq offers
customers the tight integration and optimization benefits of Compaq
SmartStart in a single, easy-to-purchase product. The ProLiant 4500
NT/Array Model is the first server to ship with Microsoft BackOffice --
resulting in a high performance, fully-optimized platform for
business-critical applications. The product also incorporates the Compaq
SMART SCSI Array Controller and Cheyenne ARCserve for Windows NT database
agents software.

Customers who wish to purchase Microsoft BackOffice from other sources can
use Compaq SmartStart to install, configure and optimize Microsoft
BackOffice on Compaq systems.

According to Microsoft, they chose the Compaq ProLiant 4500 as the first
x86-based system on which to test client/server applications for a new
Microsoft BackOffice Logo Program.

"Because it is optimized to run Microsoft BackOffice, the ProLiant 4500 is
an ideal system on which to test applications for the Microsoft BackOffice
Logo," said Steve Nemzer, president of VeriTest, Inc., the independent lab
which is checking third-party products for compliance with the Microsoft
BackOffice technical criteria. "We need absolutely reliable, absolutely
compatible equipment for this kind of intensive testing, and we have that
kind of confidence in Compaq."

"Our goal in teaming with Compaq to deliver BackOffice with ProLiant
servers is to provide unparalleled integration on industry standard
hardware and software for our customers in business computing
environments," said Allchin. "In fact, the tight integration on the
ProLiant with BackOffice has resulted in remarkable performance
improvements that benefit demanding applications. This gives our customers
a reliable, scalable solution in the deployment of their business
applications."

The ProLiant 4500 5/133 NT/Array Model is available now at a price of about
$15,600. This reflects a savings of over $2,000 if components of the
ProLiant 4500 NT/Array Model were purchased separately.

PROLIANT 1500 5/133

Today's introduction of the ProLiant 1500 5/133 allows Compaq to deliver
breakthrough performance for departmental server platforms. In NetBench
testing (NOTE 3) the ProLiant 1500 5/133 outperforms the HP NetServer LH
by 37 percent, IBM PC Server 320 by 46 percent, and the Digital Prioris HX
by 62 percent. New features include the Compaq Flex/SMP dual processor
board, 32 MB ECC memory expandable to 256 MB, 512K cache memory, and
NetFlex-3/P NIC.

ProLiant 1500 5/133 models are available now, with prices starting at
$7,200.

NEW PROCESSOR OPTIONS

New processor options announced today now provide investment protection and
increased performance for current Compaq server customers. The Flex/SMP
5/133 Dual Processor Board is supported on the ProLiant 1500 and offers a
single 133 MHz Pentium processor, an open socket for a second processor, a
512 KByte write-back cache, and 32 MB ECC memory expandable to 256 MB. A
133 MHz Pentium System Processor Board upgrade is also available for the
ProLiant 4500 5/100. System Processor Board upgrade (with a 120 MHz
Pentium chip) for the ProSignia 300 and ProSignia 500.

TIGHT INTEGRATION, EASY MANAGEMENT OF ALL SERVER COMPONENTS ARE STRATEGIC
KEYS

Part of Compaq's systems strategy to bring added value and functionality to
customers, is the addition of tight, seamless integration of servers with
leading operating systems, databases, and applications through Compaq
SmartStart and Compaq Insight Manager. SmartStart 2.40 -- Compaq's
integration tool that optimizes software/hardware configuration and
simplifies installation and delivery of tested and reliable servers -- and
Insight Manager 2.60 -- Compaq's application for managing network desktops
and servers -- both have new versions that were announced today.

All Compaq servers -- including those announced today -- ProLiant 133 MHz
servers, 5/133 Flex/SMP Dual Processor Boards, 5/120 ProSignia System
Processor Board, and NetFlex-3 100 Mb/s modules are supported by
SmartStart 2.40. New features and software supported on SmartStart 2.40
include:

* Microsoft Windows NT Server 3.51 in French, German and Spanish;
* Novell UnixWare-2 in Japanese;
* IBM OS/2 Warp Connect version 3 (with WIN-OS/2);
* Cheyenne ARCserve Database Agents for Novell NetWare for online
  backup (Oracle 7, Gupta, Sybase and Btrieve);
* Cheyenne ARCserve for Windows NT version 2.0; Compaq Insight Manager
  version 2.60;
* Revised Compaq Insight Manager Volume Licensing program;
* Support for Microsoft BackOffice products;
* SCO Open Server Release 5 upgrades and trade-ins.

Compaq Insight Manger 2.60 also has new features that extend Compaq's
management capabilities. For Compaq Deskpro PCs, Compaq Insight Manger
tools provide pre-failure alerts of impending hard drive problems and
damaging temperature conditions -- allowing customers to take advantage of
Compaq's free pre-failure warranty. The tools also permit asset control
through inventory and configuration reporting. Insight Manager 2.60
supports all Compaq servers and options, including those announced today.

COMPANY BACKGROUND

Compaq Computer Corporation is the world's largest supplier of personal
computers, offering desktop PCs, portable PCs and servers. Founded in
1982, the Company reported 1994 worldwide sales of $10.9 billion. Compaq
products are sold and supported in more than 100 countries throughout the
world. Compaq also sells directly to customers through Compaq DirectPlus
at 1-800-888-5858. Compaq provides 24-hour customer support and can be
reached through the Compaq forums on America Online, CompuServe, Internet
(http://www.compaq.com), and Prodigy, or by calling 1-800-345-1518.

 NOTES 1: tpmC (transactions per minute, "C") are measures
          of TPC-C benchmark tests are conducted by vendors and
          audited by The Transaction Processing & Performance Council

       2: Compare cost of Compaq systems to cost o
 
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