HP Simplifies Management for Linux on Blades

PALO ALTO, Calif., April 19, 2006, HP today unveiled a software package that simplifies the management of Linux on blade servers.

Based on technology gained last year through HP’s acquisition of RLX, the HP Control Tower software offers powerful deployment and monitoring capabilities for HP BladeSystem environments and features an easy-to-use, yet scalable, interface.

In addition, HP Control Tower can work in conjunction with HP Systems Insight Manager to provide customers with simplified lifecycle management of blade servers running Linux by using familiar open-source tools.

The management features of HP Control Tower are key to building an adaptive infrastructure that is agile and maintains peak performance. They include:

* Simple set-up - Less than 30 minutes required to install and configure the management server, including its operating system, database, monitoring services and management application;
* Management - Tightly integrated package that delivers hardware monitoring and deployment functions in one console. HP Control Tower uses a secure management network to ensure fast discovery, reliable monitoring and simplified remote management for HP BladeSystem, whether managing a single server blade or a thousand;
* Linux-friendly - Intelligently packages open-source tools familiar to Linux users together to deliver greater ease of use and integration.

“With our acquisition of RLX last year, HP continues to expand its enterprise management offerings for customers,” said Rick Becker, vice president and general manager, BladeSystem Division, HP. “HP Control Tower allows customers to deploy and manage blades in a Linux-centric environment quicker and with greater ease than any other solution in the marketplace.”

HP Control Tower is a part of HP’s unified infrastructure management software portfolio. Available as a standalone product, it can co-exist with HP Systems Insight Manager, which ships standard with all HP server and storage systems.

HP Systems Insight Manager addresses mixed platform and operating system environments, while HP Control Tower is an HP BladeSystem-specific and Linux-optimized management and deployment solution. Supported operating systems for blade deployment and management are Microsoft Windows® Server 2000 and 2003, Red Hat Enterprise Linux and SUSE Linux Enterprise Server.

“In the past, RLX Control Tower helped us reduce our deployment and support times significantly,” said Timothy O’Brien, senior vice president, Operations, Yodlee. “Most problems were taken care of without ever having to step foot into a data center, and the simple setup, integrated feature set and efficient user interface are superior to what the competition could deliver. We look forward to becoming HP BladeSystem and HP Control Tower users moving forward.”

HP Control Tower is expected to be available in May for $199 per license.(1)

More information on HP Control Tower is available at www.hp.com/go/controltower.

About HP

HP is a technology solutions provider to consumers, businesses and institutions globally. The company’s offerings span IT infrastructure, global services, business and home computing, and imaging and printing. For the four fiscal quarters ended Jan. 31, 2006, HP revenue totaled $87.9 billion. More information about HP (NYSE, Nasdaq: HPQ) is available at http://www.hp.com.

(1) Estimated U.S. street price. Actual prices may vary.

Microsoft and Windows are U.S. registered trademarks of Microsoft Corp.

This news release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. If such risks or uncertainties materialize or such assumptions prove incorrect, the results of HP and its consolidated subsidiaries could differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements and assumptions. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements, including but not limited to anticipated operational and financial results; statements of expectation or belief; and any statement of assumptions underlying any of the foregoing. Risks, uncertainties and assumptions include the achievement of expected results and other risks that are described from time to time in HP’s Securities and Exchange Commission reports, including but not limited to the risks described in HP’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended Jan. 31, 2006, and other reports filed after HP’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended Oct. 31, 2005. HP assumes no obligation and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements.

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