HP and Xcelera.com Sign Agreement to Speed Content Delivery For Internet Service Providers and Web-Enabled Businesses

Business Wire, Dec 21, 1999

Business Editors and High-Tech Writers

PALO ALTO, Calif. and WOBURN, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 21, 1999

Xcelera.com Subsidiary, Mirror Image, to Deploy

HP Servers, Software, Storage Products;

HP to Market Mirror Image Services

and Invest $32 Million in Xcelera.com

Hewlett-Packard Company and Xcelera.com today announced an agreement that will allow faster and more reliable delivery of Internet content. As part of the agreement, Mirror Image, a subsidiary of Xcelera.com, plans to bolster and expand its global content distribution network using HP technology in order to improve availability and drastically reduce "world wide wait" times for its customer base of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and Web-enabled businesses, especially those that require higher-end, mission-critical IT infrastructures.

Within the next 12 months, Mirror Image plans to deploy HP servers and storage systems to power a new and improved mission-critical infrastructure built on its open, global network of highly scalable Content Access Points((TM)) (CAPs). HP is also providing Mirror Image with integration and deployment services, as well as investing $32 million in Xcelera.com through an equity and convertible debt arrangement. In addition, HP intends to explore how to leverage Mirror Image's services for its own operations.

At the CAPs, Mirror Image plans to implement HP 9000 Enterprise Servers running the internet-critical HP-UX(1) 11 operating environment, HP WebQoS and HP MC/ServiceGuard software, as well as HP SureStore E Disk Array XP256 and FC60 storage systems. Mirror Image will be extending the reach of its patented CAP technology to 32 major Internet regions across six continents during the next 12 months.

Mirror Image also intends to integrate HP e-speak software technology into its network solution, exploring ways to make content delivery part of a broader e-services ecosystem. HP e-speak, a common services interface that makes it easier and faster to create, deploy, manage and connect e-services, is central to HP's vision of evolving the Internet from a collection of massive Web sites accessed with a PC, to a network of nimble, interconnected e-services that seamlessly combine to solve a problem, meet a need or complete a task.

"I am very excited to have the full strength of HP helping us to build our network and market our services around the world," said Alex Vik, chief executive officer of Xcelera.com Inc. "With support from HP in the form of industry-leading mission-critical infrastructure, services, marketing and investment, we will make the next chapter of the Internet possible through fast, reliable delivery of content and service."

"With this alliance, ISP's and Web-enabled businesses gain access to a unique combination of Mirror Image's world-class infrastructure and HP's global reach and mission-critical, always-available environment," said Craig White, senior vice president of HP Technology Finance. "Mirror Image's content-distribution network is capable of delivering 75 percent of Internet requests very fast. With customer loyalty so dependent on speed in the Internet world, this is critical to anyone doing business on the Internet."

About Mirror Image Content Access Points (CAPs)

The CAP concept is based on the principle that content distribution, content management and Web transactions are best handled from a central network position closer to the users, where the networks of a geographical region converge -- that is, at key Internet exchange points. There, the massive, intelligent CAPs store content and aggregate traffic across networks to deliver up to 75 percent of all Internet traffic for CAP customers -- ISPs and e-businesses -- directly into the networks of that region.

Powered by the CAPs, the Mirror Image Internet family of instaDelivery(SM) Internet Services speeds the delivery of high-quality content to end users worldwide. The result is a dramatically faster Internet at a lower cost, enabling ISPs and e-businesses to deliver maximum speed performance, scalability and end-user experience.

About Mirror Image Internet

Mirror Image Internet, Inc. eliminates the "world wide wait" by providing content distribution services that speed Internet traffic and improve quality of service for Internet Service Providers and e-businesses. By deploying an open network of highly scalable Content Access Points at key Internet exchange points around the world, Mirror Image adds a new, high-speed infrastructure layer on top of the Internet. This global network stores content closer to the end user and powers Mirror Image's instaDelivery Internet Services. With direct cross-connectivity into the Internet infrastructure, Mirror Image provides the fast delivery of up to 75% of its customers' Internet traffic to millions of end users worldwide - at rates up to ten times faster than traditional traffic flow. For additional information, visit Mirror Image Internet on the Web at www.mirror-image.com.

Principally owned by Xcelera.com Inc. (AMEX: XLA), Mirror Image serves customers worldwide through headquarters in Woburn, Mass. and European regional operational centers in London and Frankfurt. For additional information, visit Mirror Image Internet on the Web at www.mirror-image.com.