NEC Solutions America Fault Tolerant Server Wins N+I 2002 'Best of Show' Award in Network Server and Peripherals Category

Business Wire, May 8, 2002

Business/Technology Editors

NetWorld Interop 2002 Las Vegas

LAS VEGAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 8, 2002

NEC Express5800/320La Voted Best Among Heavy Competition in the

"Network Servers and Peripherals" Category

NEC Solutions (America), Inc., a leading provider of business solutions and services for the high-end commercial and professional markets in North America, announced today that the company was awarded the N I 2002 "Best of Show" award for the "Network Servers and Peripherals" category at a reception here in Las Vegas on Tuesday evening. The NEC Express5800/320La fault tolerant server won the award and was selected the best among heavy competition for its ability to provide continuous availability at prices starting at $20,000.

The "Best of Interop Awards" are given at one of the technology industry's most influential tradeshows to highlight companies exhibiting highly innovative and influential products and technologies. Editors from Network Computing, InformationWeek, and EE Times selected products in 11 categories after evaluating hundreds of product entries. The Best of Interop Awards are designed to help IT and network managers shorten the evaluation processes in assessing new technology products.

The Express5800/320La from NEC Solutions America provides users with Continuous Availability, which means the server is designed to prevent interruption of service, data loss and data corruption in the event of a hardware failure or maintenance servicing. The system is also uniquely designed for easy implementation, as it requires only typical hardware or software configuration and supports standard Microsoft(R) Windows(R) applications. These features can help dramatically minimize IT staff training requirements and enable the use of commercially available software, which helps reduce total cost of ownership.

"This prestigious distinction for our fault tolerant server underscores how critical the marketplace judges server availability," said Mike Mitsch, Director, Server Division, Enterprise Server Products for NEC Solutions America. "Business continuity is an absolute must for doing business in a global economy. Why should anyone work with equipment that is designed to recover from failure, and force business to stop, when they can have servers that are designed not to fail in the first place and at an affordable price?"

The NEC Express5800/320La At-A-Glance

Simplified Availability

The Express5800/320La employs 24x7 fault tolerant technology that allows all processing and input/output (I/O) commands to run on redundant subsystems in lockstep. The servers include multiple CPU processing modules, multiple I/O-PCI modules, power supplies and hard disk drive (HDDs) running in what is called an "Active/Active" mode. The redundant subsystems in each module process identical data at the same time. In the event of a hardware failure or hardware error, the defective module is instantly isolated to prevent losing memory state or processing instructions. The end result is a far higher level of system integrity and stability when compared to non-fault-tolerant systems.

Modular Serviceability

A modular design coupled with advanced monitoring ability and on-line testing capabilities allow NEC Solutions America to provide a new service paradigm with the Express5800/320La server. The company is the only server provider to offer warranties on a modular level. These features help provide ease-of-use, installation and maintenance time-savings, low repair and maintenance costs, remote monitoring and repair capabilities, and problem identification and resolution, all designed to occur without a system shutdown.

Software Reliability

Continuously available systems rely on software to predict, manage and recover from potential software problems. To help ensure dependable operation, the NEC Express5800/320La offers a suite of software designed to provide exceptional stability and availability while transparently managing problem prediction, isolation and recovery.

Pricing and Availability

The Express5800/320La server can be ordered as single and dual processor pedestal models, as well as a rack-mounted model for the dual processor system. A single processor system begins at a list price less than US$20,000(1), Canada$30,400(1). The NEC Express5800/320La (2-way) pedestal server, will list for US$24,653(1), Canada $37,473(1), when configured with 512MB RAM, 18GB(2)HDD, and pre-loaded with Microsoft(R) Windows(R) 2000 Advanced Server operating system. A similarly configured rack mount (8U) NEC Express5800/320Lr (2-way) server will list for an additional US $400(1), Canada $608(1).

Further information on the NEC Express5800/ft server series is available on the NEC Solutions America fault tolerant web site at: www.necft.com.

About NEC Solutions (America), Inc.

NEC Solutions (America), Inc. is a leading provider of business solutions and services for the high-end commercial and professional markets in North America. As a part of NEC Corporation (NASDAQ: NIPNY) (FTSE: 6701q.l), NEC Solutions America supplies customized technology solutions, including presentation systems, enterprise computing products, biometric and information security solutions, advanced eBusiness integration systems, and professional IT/IS services. Information about NEC Solutions America can be found at www.necsolutions-am.com.