PALO ALTO and SAN JOSE, Calif., June 29, 1998 -- Hewlett-Packard Company and Cisco Systems, Inc. today announced the industry's first network guarantee of 99.95 percent uptime, with the Server-to-Switch Foundation Configuration, part of the HP Mission Critical Server Suite platform. (See today's companion release titled "HP Collaborates with Cisco, EMC and Oracle to Provide Unmatched, End-to-end High-Availability Solutions.")
The high availability (HA) Server-to-Switch Foundation Configuration marks the first solution between HP and Cisco for HP's 5nines:5minutes HA program for the HP 9000 Enterprise Server family running the HP-UX(1) operating environment. As part of the program, Cisco and HP plan to introduce network-availability solutions to span platform, database, application, consulting and support services.
"HP will expand its Mission Critical Server Suite program to deliver the most reliable, comprehensive set of solutions for customers' mission-critical environments," said Janice Chaffin, general manager of HP's High Performance Systems Division. "Working with Cisco is an aggressive step toward delivering end-to-end availability for customers that demand unequaled application uptime across a variety of infrastructures."
The HA Server-to-Switch Foundation Configuration consists of Cisco's high-performance, resilient Catalyst. 5505 series switch and HP's HA Foundation Configuration. The Catalyst 5505 switches ensure a highly available data-center network infrastructure through a fully redundant system and sophisticated Layer 2 and Layer 3 redundancy protocols. HP's HA Foundation Configuration offers a 99.95 percent uptime guarantee per year, a pre-tuned, pre-tested hardware and software system configuration, including high-performance, scalable mirrored systems; clustering software that ensures application availability; mirrored external disks; a high-availability storage solution; multiple local area network cards for resilient network connectivity; and mirroring software. The configuration features HP's highest level of proactive network support; HP Critical Systems Support with Network Availability Services.
"We are each using our extensive data-center experience to deliver reliable, high-performance network and platform solutions for mission-critical applications," said Steve Behm, vice president of Cisco Strategic Alliances. "Through our cooperation, we can meet customers' availability requirements through optimized technologies; consolidated best practices, and comprehensive, proactive mission-critical support services."
Availability
HP and Cisco's HA Server-to-Switch Foundation Configuration is expected to be available in August. Implementation services are available from HP Consulting; pricing will vary depending on customer configuration. Local HP or Cisco sales representatives can provide more information.About 5nines:5minutes
HP's 5nines:5minutes HA vision defines how HP will deliver a 99.999 percent expected uptime in certain pre-defined, pre-tested customer environments. Supported by its strategic partners, HP will maximize uptime as seen by the end user, delivering true end-to-end availability.About HP
HP is the official information-technology hardware and maintenance supplier to the 1998 World Cup soccer tournament. Selected for its technology and skills to support and manage mission-critical applications, HP will help create an information-management infrastructure for handling game-scoring; media centers; personnel accreditation; hotel information; and various ticketing, stadium, warehouse and back-office operations.Hewlett-Packard Company is a leading global provider of computing, Internet and intranet solutions, services, communications products and measurement solutions, all of which are recognized for excellence in quality and support. It is the second-largest computer supplier in the world, with computer-related revenue in excess of $35.4 billion in its 1997 fiscal year. HP has 125,300 employees and had revenue of $42.9 billion in its 1997 fiscal year.
Cisco Systems
Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) is the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet. News and information are available at http://www.cisco.com.For more information visit Cisco PR Contacts
(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.
UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group.
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