Sequent Named as a Performance Development Platform for Sybase

Client-server Applications To Be Optimized for Enterprise-wide Systems

BEAVERTON, Ore.--Jan. 11, 1993--Sequent Computer Systems, Inc. and Sybase,
Inc. today announced that Sequent's symmetric multiprocessing (SMP)
systems have been selected as a Sybase performance development platform.
Under the terms of the agreement, the two companies will optimize the
performance of Sybase products on Sequent systems for large-scale
computing environments.

Sequent has demonstrated the highest UNIX performance of any Sybase
platform on the industry-standard TPC-A and TPC-B benchmarks. The new
performance development agreement is designed to create a highly tuned
platform for enterprise-level solutions. In an effort to do so, Sequent
will join the Sybase development group as a partner in performance
enhancement and tuning.

Sequent and Sybase engineers will work to improve the performance of the
standard, strategic Sybase product set, including the SQL Server product
and related products. The engineers will conduct performance enhancement,
porting, quality assurance and maintenance projects at Sybase
headquarters. The primary server used in the performance development
project will be a Sequent Symmetry 2000/750 system, with twelve 50 MHz
80486 CPUs and 22 disks.

"Sequent's expanded offerings of client-server tools and services, paired
with our traditional strengths in performance and scalability, provide
powerful solutions for enterprise-level RDBMS environments," said Dennis
Peck, senior vice president of marketing at Sequent. "By teaming with
Sybase, we'll push performance even further in enterprise-level
client-server solutions."

"This performance development agreement with Sequent reinforces our focus
on enterprise-wide client-server solutions," said Stewart Schuster, vice
president of marketing at Sybase. "As Sybase customers move toward
enterprise-wide client-server computing, they'll need higher performance.
The Sequent and Sybase combination will provide a performance edge."

Sequent and Sybase Take Client-Server Computing to Enterprise Level.

With the recent announcement of its Enterprise Client/Server Roadmap,
Sybase has unveiled its next generation of server products designed for
building and deploying global, enterprise-wide business applications.
Enterprise client-server computing represents the integration of
departmental and corporate information systems, enabling a new class of
applications to span the enterprise and leverage existing central and
line-of-business systems.

The following are requirements of enterprise-level computing:

* Systems that coexist with mainframes and can serve thousands 
  of users in geographically dispersed locations 
* Applications that are integrated across the enterprise 
* Large databases that consist of multiple, heterogeneous 
  data sources

As Sybase customers move to enterprise client-server applications,
performance and scalability become increasingly important. Sequent
systems, which lead the industry in price, performance and scalability,
provide the power and flexibility that enterprise client-server
applications require.

Agreement Extends Long-standing Relationship

The new agreement extends the relationship between Sequent and Sybase that
began in 1989. Sequent was one of the initial development platforms for
Sybase's first SMP release, SQL Server version 4.8. Since then, the two
companies have worked on joint performance tuning and benchmarking.

In the most recent TPC-A benchmark test, Sequent ran Sybase 67 percent
faster than any other hardware platform; in the TPC-B test, Sequent ran
Sybase 30 percent faster than any other platform. On the Sequent Symmetry
2000/250, Sybase achieved 183.34 TPC-A at a cost of $8,686 per transaction
per second (TPS). On the TPC-B benchmark, Sybase achieved 173.11 TPS at a
cost of $2,770 per TPS.

The relationship is further strengthened by each company's commitment to
using each other's products for significant in-house applications. Sequent
is using the Sybase relational database management system (RDBMS) for
field service and telemarketing applications, while Sybase is using
Sequent systems to support quality assurance, maintenance and the
optimization of SYBASE SQL Server for SMP systems.

Sequent Computer Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: SQNT) is a leading provider of open
systems solutions for commercial OLTP and decision support. Sequent
develops and supports scalable computing systems based on the UNIX
operating system. Since the launch of its symmetric multiprocessor family
in 1984, Sequent has installed more than 4,000 systems worldwide.

Sybase, Inc. (NASDAQ: SYBS) develops and markets the SYBASE system, a
leading client/server-based RDBMS product family for developing on-line,
enterprise-wide applications.

The company offers proven technology combined with service to provide
customers with complete desktop to mainframe solutions. Headquartered in
Emeryville, Calif., Sybase markets its products worldwide through its
direct sales force, telesales, distributors, OEMs, VARs and systems
integrators.

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