iPlanet Web Server, Enterprise Edition 4.0 Platform Sets New Pace for Web Server Performance

iPlanet Web Server, Enterprise Edition 4.0 Platform Sets New Pace for Web Server Performance

Sun-Netscape Alliance Delivers Fastest Java Technology-Based Application Performance

Sept. 28, 1999 - PALO ALTO & MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., The Sun-Netscape Alliance today announced the immediate availability of the iPlanet Web Server, Enterprise Edition 4.0 platform, which continues to deliver market-leading performance, reliability, manageability and security features. Formerly known as Netscape Enterprise Server, the new offering is the optimal foundation for a successful Web strategy, meeting the escalating needs of enterprises and service providers competing in the Net Economy. iPlanet Web Server, Enterprise Edition 4.0 platform has the fastest Java Technology-Based Application performance in its class, accelerates delivery of dynamic Web content and helps ensure that customers can plug in best-of-breed applications to extend and enhance their Web server platform.

Web server software is the first and last point of contact for customers, suppliers and employees requesting Web-based services and information and for conducting transactions. iPlanet Web Server, Enterprise Edition 4.0 software helps lower Web server total cost of ownership and delivers a higher return on investment by allowing companies to concentrate on providing new Web-based services, rather than focusing on Web server uptime and reliability.

"We understand the rapidly changing requirements of companies competing in the Net Economy and are delivering market-leading software to allow companies to reliably conduct global Web-based business, 24-hours a day," said Dr. Stuart Wells, senior vice president, Application Infrastructure Products, Sun-Netscape Alliance. "Enterprises and service providers have demanding Web server needs and are often faced with huge spikes in demand. They need the fastest performing Web server software available with support for the latest Java and Internet technologies -- iPlanet Web Server, Enterprise Edition 4.0 delivers all of this and more."

Requirements for Competing in the Net Economy
While the needs of organizations vary, decision-makers use the same set of criteria to evaluate Web server software. These criteria include: performance and scalability, reliability and availability, manageability and security, and a comprehensive application development environment.

The market-leading iPlanet Web Server platform provides the optimal foundation for a successful Web strategy. The new iPlanet Web Server, Enterprise Edition 4.0 delivers:

* Performance and Scalability - the industry's only high-speed engine that supports a multi-threaded and multi-process environment, and a new integrated servlet engine, support for Java Servlet 2.1 extensions, and in-process, pluggable native JavaVMs. Based on tests conducted by Mindcraft, the new features deliver enormous performance gains resulting in a 222 percent Java Servlet performance advantage over a commercial version of the Apache Web Server, Stronghold version 2.4.2, and a 22 percent advantage over CGI scripts.

* Reliability and Availability - the ability to handle exponential growth in traffic while maintaining 24x7 availability to further reduce system down time. The iPlanet Web Server platform continues to provide availability leadership through its multi-process mode and process monitor support to enable the server to continue serving pages, even if a process goes down.

* Manageability and Security - the new graphical user interface streamlines administration. Tight integration with iPlanet Directory Server 4.1 lets managers divide and delegate Web server roles and tasks to the appropriate administrator, based on skills. With encrypted HTML-based administration, utilizing LDAP and digital certificates, administration tasks can be performed either locally or remotely. Added support for PKCS #11, the standard interface for cryptographic hardware accelerators, boosts secure transaction performance for e-commerce sites.

* Web Application Development Platform - market leadership helps ensure that customers can enhance their Web server performance with best-of-breed applications optimized for the iPlanet Web Server platform. iPlanet Web Server is standardizing on the Java application platform and supports components of Java 2 Enterprise Edition, such as Java servlets and Java server pages, to provide an optimized environment for Web application development and a greater return on Web application investments. iPlanet Web Server continues to support the popular NSAPI and server side JavaScript, including support for JavaScript 1.4 engine.

iPlanet Web Server, Enterprise Edition 4.0 supports open standards including HTTP 1.1, SSL 3.0, LDAP v3.0 and SNMP. It runs on the following operating system platforms: Intel Windows NT Workstation and Server 4.0 SP4, Sun Solaris 2.6 and Solaris 7 operating environments, Hewlett Packard HP-UX 11.0, IBM AIX, Tru 64 Unix®, SGI and IRIX.

Pricing and Availability
The iPlanet Web Server, Enterprise Edition 4.0 platform is available for immediate download for the Solaris 2.6 and Solaris 7 operating environment and the HP-UX 11 and Windows NT operating systems. Versions for the IBM AIX, Tru 64 Unix®, SGI and IRIX operating systems are expected next month.

Priced at $1495 per CPU, upgrades to the iPlanet Web Server, Enterprise Edition 4.0 platform will be priced at $1045 per CPU. Pricing and availability are subject to change. For more information, consult the iPlanet Web site at www.iplanet.com. Existing Netscape Enterprise Edition customers with maintenance agreements less than a year old, will be notified via email that they can download the new version of iPlanet Web Server, Enterprise Edition 4.0 from their personal ProductTracker Website, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

About the Sun-Netscape Alliance
America Online, Inc. and Sun Microsystems, Inc. formed the Sun-Netscape Alliance to provide easy to deploy, comprehensive enterprise and e-commerce solutions to business partners and other companies competing in today's Net Economy. The Alliance product portfolio provides customers with the industry's most scalable, integrated infrastructure software and a family of production ready e-commerce applications. The products are offered on the industry's most widely available product platforms, including DEC, HP, IBM, Linux, SGI, Microsoft Windows, and Sun. The alliance software product portfolio includes: messaging and calendar, collaboration, web, application, directory, and certificate servers. The Alliance also offers a family of production-ready applications for e-commerce, including commerce exchange, procurement, selling, and billing.

About America Online, Inc
Founded in 1985, America Online, Inc., based in Dulles, Virginia, is the world's leader in interactive services, Web brands, Internet technologies, and e-commerce services. America Online, Inc. operates: two worldwide Internet services, America Online, with more than 18 million members, and CompuServe, with approximately 2 million members; several leading Internet brands including ICQ and Digital City, Inc.; the Netscape Netcenter and AOL.COM portals; and the Netscape Navigator and Communicator browsers. Through its strategic alliance with Sun Microsystems, the Company develops and offers easy-to-deploy, end-to-end e-commerce and enterprise solutions for companies operating in the Net Economy.

About Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Since its inception in 1982, a singular vision, "The Network is The Computer," has propelled Sun Microsystems, Inc. [NASDQ: SUNW] to its position as a leading provider of high quality hardware, software and services for establishing enterprise-wide intranets and expanding the power of the Internet. With more than $11 billion in annual revenues, Sun can be found in more than 150 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://www.sun.com.

Netscape and the Netscape N logo are registered trademarks in the United States and other countries of Netscape Communications Corporation a subsidiary of America Online, Inc. Sun, Sun Microsystems, the Sun Logo and "The Network is The Computer" are trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States and other countries.

Sun-Netscape Alliance iPlanet Web Server Software Preferred by Industry-leading Service Providers and Developers

Market-Leading Web Development Platform Chosen for High Performance, Scalability and Meeting Customers' Online Business Needs

Sept. 28, 1999 The Sun-Netscape Alliance today announced that a large number of industry-leading service providers and software developers are offering value-added applications to extend and enhance the new iPlanet Web Server, Enterprise Edition 4.0 platform, formerly known as Netscape Enterprise Edition. These companies selected the market-leading iPlanet Web Server platform to develop and optimize for, because it meets the high performance and scalability needs of the most demanding enterprises and service providers. iPlanet Web Server, combined with best-of-breed applications and platform enhancements from global technology providers, provides customers with the optimal foundation for a successful Web strategy.

"By working with some of the best companies in the industry, we are extending iPlanet Web Server's market leadership, and delivering an enhanced, integrated Web server platform that meets the needs of customers competing in the Net Economy," said Dr. Stuart Wells, senior vice president, Application Infrastructure Products, Sun-Netscape Alliance. "iPlanet Web Server's flexible software architecture, combined with solutions from our ISVs, provides the best platform for serving high volume, mission-critical Web sites."

Service Providers and Portals Trust Their Business to iPlanet Web Server
Leading service providers and portals demand the highest level of availability and uptime for their customers. Travelocity.com, one of the most-visited travel sites on the Internet, runs on the iPlanet Web Server platform. "Our customer base has grown dramatically over the past year, and they expect from us a one-stop travel experience that delivers secure online reservations," said Terry Jones, president, Travelocity.com. "iPlanet Web Server provides the scalability we need to offer complex travel transaction services to future users, and the reliability and availability to ensure member retention."

Digex [NASDQ: DIGX], a leading Web hosting provider, uses the iPlanet Web Server platform to provide high-quality service to its customers. Digex, a leading provider of managed Web and application hosting solutions, has one of the largest installed bases of iPlanet Web Server in its state-of-the-art Internet data centers. "To meet our customers' ever changing needs, Digex must consistently enhance the productivity and security of their online business operations," said Rebecca Ward, group president of marketing, product management, and engineering, Digex. "Customers such as AMC Theatres, Miller Freeman, and Campmor depend on the reliability and availability that iPlanet Web Server delivers."

Supporting the Java 2 Platform in Global 2000 Businesses
"By combining the speed, security, stability, and feature completeness of the Java 2 platform with the strength of the iPlanet Web Server, enterprises and service providers can build a robust infrastructure that will meet their growing business needs in the Net Economy," said Jon Kannegaard, interim president, Sun Software Products and Platforms, Sun Microsystems. "We are impressed with the stellar performance gains that iPlanet Web Server customers and ISVs are experiencing through iPlanet's support of the Java 2 platform and JavaServer Pages and Java Servlet technologies, and we look forward to seeing the widespread adoption of these enterprise-class technologies."

Leading Operating Systems Leverage the Power of iPlanet Web Server
Advanced operating system capabilities leverage the power and performance of the iPlanet Web Server, Enterprise Edition 4.0 platform.

"IBM delivers a world-class solution with iPlanet Web Server on AIX," said Rajiv Samant, general manager of AIX, IBM. "Our newest version of AIX offers unparalleled Web performance and was built to take full advantage of the advanced features in the iPlanet Web Server, Enterprise Edition 4.0. When combined with our new RS/6000 S80 system the result is a Web server that runs without breaking a sweat even under the most demanding conditions."

"The Solaris operating environment delivers the availability, scalability and fast Web and Java performance that enterprises and service providers require," said Anil Gadre, vice president and general manager, Solaris Software, Sun Microsystems. "The combination of Solaris and iPlanet Web Server Enterprise Edition 4.0 is the best choice for high volume Web servers and Java applications."

"Compaq Computer Corporation and Netscape have a history together of providing customers with high performance, mission-critical e-business solutions based on Windows NT and Tru64 UNIX," said Mark Linesch, Compaq Computer Corporation. "Combining our industry-leading ProLiant and AlphaServer platforms with iPlanet Web Server, Enterprise Edition 4.0, customers can quickly and easily achieve a competitive advantage in today's 24x7 Internet marketplace."

Providing Industry-Leading Solutions
A large number of independent software vendors (ISVs) have chosen the market-leading iPlanet Web Server platform for its high performance and flexibility. These vendors are developing applications that extend or enhance the iPlanet Web Server, Enterprise Edition 4.0 platform.

Binary Evolution's VelociGen, the leading plug-in for accelerating Perl and Tcl applications, speeds the execution of Perl and Tcl applications running on the iPlanet Web Server, Enterprise Edition 4.0 platform. "The speed of VelociGen combined with the industry-leading scalability of iPlanet Web Server result in ultra-fast script processing for heavily trafficked sites," said Alex Shah, chief technology officer, Binary Evolution. "This arrangement makes it easier for developers to build sophisticated applications based on Perl and Tcl."

I-Kinetics' DataBroker, the fastest JDBC driver in the industry, complements the iPlanet Web Server, Enterprise Edition 4.0 platform. "Our Global 1000 e-commerce customers demand fast response time under high-volume user load and iPlanet Web Server, Java, and DataBroker can handle it," stated Bruce Cottman, CEO, I-Kinetics. "iPlanet Web Server's performance and scalability increases DataBroker's market leading performance 20% or more over the other leading Java-enabled Web servers we tested." The "lite" version of Databroker together with the iPlanet Web Server Enterprise Edition 4.0 platform supports five concurrent connections.

Intuitive Systems' Java optimization tool, Optimizeit, leverages the power of the iPlanet Web Server, Enterprise Edition 4.0 platform. "By making the Java profiling process easier, Optimizeit increases development speed, so it is a natural extension to support the iPlanet Web Server," said Gordie Freedman, vice president of technology, Intuitive Systems, Inc. "Coupled with the high native Java performance of iPlanet Web Server, Optimizeit provides developers with the most efficient profiling solution to achieve fast server-side Java applications."

Macromedia's Generator 2, the solution for personalizing, automating, and visualizing graphical content for high-impact Web sites, is optimized for the iPlanet Web Server, Enterprise Edition 4.0 platform. "Together, iPlanet Web Server and Generator 2 give online businesses an incredibly high-performance platform for real-time graphics and personalized interactivity," said Diane Rogers, vice president of product management, Macromedia's Web Publishing group.

nCipher, a provider of a cryptographic module for SSL acceleration, leverages the iPlanet Web Server, Enterprise Edition 4.0 platform's speed to boost its customers' return on investment (ROI). "Our Netscape Enterprise Server customers have seen the nFast/300 increase the number of secure SSL customer connections to their server by 20 times or more," said Richard Kosinski, senior vice president, Worldwide Sales & Marketing, nCipher, Inc. "Combined with the inherent speed of the iPlanet Web Server, the nFast product range is the only available solution to deliver both leadership key security and acceleration of e-commerce transactions."

Sane Solutions sells NetTracker log analysis software as an enhancement to the iPlanet Web Server platform. "The iPlanet Web Server, Enterprise Edition 4.0 will continue to be the choice of demanding Internet professionals worldwide," said Jim Rose CEO, Sane Solutions. "For this reason, we have optimized our NetTracker Web site traffic analysis software to seamlessly integrate with iPlanet Web Server on all Alliance platforms."

Valicert's Web Server Validator software provides a key link to iPlanet Web Server platform administrators using digital certificate validation. "ValiCert Web Server Validator provides a critically important capability to the iPlanet Web Server," said Sathvik Krishnamurthy, vice president of marketing and business development, ValiCert. "This technology enables iPlanet customers to validate any certificate from any CA, thereby providing the highest level of security for the Web Server in the enterprise, Internet or extranet."

Verity, Inc., a leading provider of enterprise and Internet knowledge retrieval solutions, is offering the Verity Filter Pack for the iPlanet Web Server Enterprise Edition 4.0 platform to create a comprehensive information management solution. "We are pleased to be including our document conversion solutions with the iPlanet Web Server to provide customers with robust knowledge access, retrieval, viewing and distribution systems," said Ronald Weissman, vice president of strategy and corporate marketing, Verity. "This tight integration allows enterprise customers to fully leverage information assets stored in all popular application formats."

Priced at $1495 per CPU, upgrades to the iPlanet Web Server, Enterprise Edition 4.0 platform will be priced at $1045 per CPU. Pricing and availability are subject to change. For more information, consult the iPlanet Web site at www.iplanet.com. Existing Netscape Enterprise Edition customers, with maintenance agreements less than a year old, will be notified via email that they can download the new version of iPlanet Web Server, Enterprise Edition 4.0 from their personal ProductTracker Website, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.