MSC.Software Develops Linux Clustering Solutions in Collaboration With HP; Companies Work Together to Expand Linux to New Supercomputing Markets

Business Wire, Jan 30, 2001

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

COSTA MESA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 30, 2001

MSC.Software (NYSE:MNS), the information technology software and services provider helping companies worldwide develop better products faster, today announced that it is working with the Hewlett-Packard Company to provide customized clustering solutions based on the Linux operating system. Long recognized for its open environment, stability and scalability, Linux is now emerging as a viable platform for the enterprise. MSC.Linux will be demonstrated in the HP booth at the LinuxWorld Conference & Expo at the Jacob Javits Conference Center in New York City, Jan. 31-Feb. 2.

The combination of MSC.Software's unique software engineering expertise with HP systems and support and the MSC.Linux OS delivers supercomputing with no assembly required directly to the customer.

"This Linux clustering solution can help customers reduce development time, while helping to bring products to market within a rapid timeframe," said Martin Fink, general manager, HP Linux Systems Operation. "We see Linux being used not just in terms of its performance in a cluster environment, but for Web hosting and appliances in general."

"These recession-proof solutions are delivering price-performance benefits that are six times what other companies or collaborations can offer with Linux," stated Frank Perna, chairman and CEO of MSC.Software. "MSC.Software's established simulation software expertise coupled with MSC.Linux clustering capabilities will allow us to extend our expertise into pharmaceutical, energy, financial and other new markets for Linux. We deliver to customers the business benefits of increased revenue and ROI, reduced time to market and warranty costs, and lower product-development costs, all on a stable, high-quality operating system. It's a win-win situation."

Customers such as Dana Corporation's Spicer Axle Division, the world's leading independent axle and vehicle-component manufacturer, experienced benefits within the first day of implementation when the MSC.Linux package arrived, and was up and running within four hours. Dana engineers then ran an analysis job that had taken approximately seven hours to complete on its previous systems. The MSC.Linux cluster successfully completed the same job in just under one hour, so little time that the engineers repeated the test just to confirm the time and reliability of the results.

"The immediate benefits we have realized from this system are stability and raw computing power," said Jun Yoshioka, chief of Engineering, Advanced Engineering, Spicer Light Axle Group. "We are better able to simulate complex systems on a cost-effective, high-performance system that just keeps running."

About MSC.Software

MSC.Software (NYSE:MNS) is the information technology software and services provider helping companies worldwide develop better products faster. MSC.Software's software and services are used to enhance and automate the product design and manufacturing process. The ability to model and test software prototypes has cost-effectively enabled manufacturers to design and build everything from sophisticated aircraft and automobiles to electronic products. Simulating product performance reduces development expenses, time to market and warranty costs, positively impacting customer profitability. MSC.Software is capitalizing on the advantages of the Linux operating system for high-performance computing and the Web in all of its forms. For additional information about MSC.visualNastran, our ASP or Linux initiatives, visit us at www.engineering-e.com or www.mscsoftware.com.