Nieuws van Bull Nederland

Paris, July 6, 2005 - Bull today announces the Bull NovaScale 5160 server has reached a performance of 13,769 QphH@1000 GB (Query per Hour) under the TPC-H Business Intelligence benchmark, running the latest preliminary version of the Microsoft SQL Server 2005 database. The results achieved also set a world record in terms of price/performance with $ 32.49 per QphH.

The new record was set with a Bull NovaScale 5160 server equipped with 16 Intel® Itanium® 2 processors, running Microsoft SQL Server 2005 database on Microsoft Windows® Server 2003 and using Xyratex Storage enclosures. It demonstrates the exceptional capabilities of FAME (Flexible Architecture for Multiple Environments), the architecture for Bull's NovaScale servers. This performance establishes Bull NovaScale as a key asset providing measurable competitive edge to their users

The TPC-H benchmark is a renowned international benchmark that measures the performance of a complete platform, including server, database and storage components within the frame of Business Intelligence applications.

Outstanding performance, outstanding price
At 13,769 QphH1000 GB (Query per Hour), the Bull NovaScale® 5160 server's result is significantly higher than the previous record announced in June 2005, both in terms of price and performance.

"Today's result is a milestone in the history of standards-based computing," said Henri Pfahl, Vice President of the NovaScale server business unit of Bull. "It confirms the superiority of Bull NovaScale servers, Intel Itanium and Microsoft technologies. Evaluating and choosing the optimum data warehouse platform is key to take the right business decisions. With our respective offerings, Bull and Microsoft deliver the right combination."

"The performance achieved by the Xyratex Storage enclosures on a Bull NovaScale 5160 server is a further proof of the reliability and performance of our offerings" said Jon Haley, VP Sales and Marketing at Xyratex Storage Systems. "These results make a compelling case for the technology and its implementation."

"These improved results demonstrate that SQL Server 2005 together with NovaScale Intel Itanium2 based servers deliver outstanding performance for highly demanding Business intelligence infrastructures," said Bill Baker, general manager for SQL Server Business Intelligence at Microsoft Corp. "The price/performance achieved by Microsoft and Bull also exemplifies our ability to provide cost effective Business Intelligence solutions that enable our mutual customers to have greater insight into their businesses for better decision making."

Benchmark detailed results and configuration

Model: Server Bull NovaScale 5160
OS: Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition
Number and type of processors: 16 Intel Itanium 2 - 1.6GHz, 6MB cache
Memory size: 64GB
Database size: 1TB
QphH@1000 GB: 13, 769
$/QphH@1000 GB: $ 32.49

More information

Transaction Processing Council site: http://www.tpc.org/tpch/
Bull NovaScale servers offer: www.bull.com/novascale
White paper "Choosing Windows® for the heart of the Data Center": http://www.bull.com/novascale/dc/windows.php

NovaScale is a registered trademark of Bull S.A.
Intel and Intel Itanium are registered trademark of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in other countries.
TPC BenchmarkTM, TPC-H, QppH, QthH and QphH are trademarks of Transaction Processing Performance Council
Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.

Bull NovaScale® 5160 server sets a record breaking price/performance under the TPC-H benchmark running an early version of Microsoft® SQL Server 2005

Bull NovaScale 5160 server performs 13,769 QphH at 1000 GB at a price of $32.49