Bull Announces the Availability of NovaScale Servers Running the New Intel Itanium 2 Processors

Business Wire, Nov 9, 2004

PARIS & PITTSBURGH -- Bull today announce that its range of NovaScale servers will run the latest Intel(R) Itanium(R) 2 processors, with a L3 cache up to 9 MB, and the new Low Voltage Itanium(R) 2 processors, with optimized power consumption.

Being at the forefront of IT makers who are investing in Intel(R)'s Itanium(R) processors, Bull has taken a leading position in mastering powerful and scalable infrastructures for both commercial and HPC applications, which is the cornerstone of its strategy.

The combination of the mainframe-class NovaScale architecture with the new processor generation will sustain even more demanding mission-critical applications and very heavy HPC applications. It will reinforce the Bull NovaScale presence in the scientific, technical and business market segments where Bull has already gained strong recognition, thus proving the quality of its offer.

"By supporting the new Intel(R) Itanium(R) 2 processors, Bull provides an even stronger alternative to traditional solutions with its open and mainframe-class NovaScale servers. Bull NovaScale servers can now support the most demanding applications with industry-standard technologies" said Bruno Pinna, Bull Intel processor based server business unit general manager.

" High-demand HPC and commercial applications which have already benefited from the Intel(R) Itanium(R) 2 processor-based NovaScale servers will now draw upon the price/ performance improvements of the new Itanium 2 processors. This announcement demonstrates the commitment of Bull to Intel Itanium 2 processors to deliver best-in-class high-end servers" said Richard Dracott, general manager, enterprise marketing and planning, Intel.

All of Bull's NovaScale servers will immediately realize the benefits of the new Intel(R) Itanium(R) 2 processors. And Bull is now delivering a complete mainframe-class server range with a single architecture up to the 32-way.

NovaScale(TM) server range includes 2 to 32-way servers and runs several operating systems, including Windows(R) Server(R) 2003, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 Advanced Server and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 9.

Itanium 2 processor key features

--Up to 1.6GHz core speed

--On-die cache: up to 9MB L3, 256KB L2, 16KB L1

--.13u process technology

Itanium is a trademark or registered trademark of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries.

About Bull

Bull designs and develops servers and software for an open environment, integrating the most advanced technologies. In this respect, Bull's range of NovaScale(R) servers combines the openness of standards with the robustness of mainframes. It brings to its customers its expertise and know-how to help them in the transformation of their information systems and to optimise their IT infrastructure and their applications.

Bull is particularly present in the public sector, banking, finance, telecommunication, utilities and manufacturing sectors. Capitalising on its wide experience, the Group has a thorough understanding of the business and specific processes of these sectors, thus enabling it to efficiently advise and to accompany its customers. Its distribution network spreads to over 100 countries world-wide.

About Intel

Intel, the world's largest chip maker, is also a leading manufacturer of computer, networking and communications products. Additional information about Intel is available at www.intel.com/pressroom

Intel logo, Intel and Intel Itanium are marks or trademarks of Intel Corporation or its subsidiaries in the United States and other countries.

NovaScale(R) is a trademark of Bull S.A.

Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.