PRESS - INFORMIX INTRODUCES ONLINE EXTENDED PARALLEL SERVER

INFORMIX INTRODUCES ONLINE EXTENDED PARALLEL SERVER Industry-Leading Dynamic Scalable Architecture Extended to Clustered SMP and MPP Environments New Parallel Server and Best-in-Class Partnerships Offer Today's Most Powerful Data Warehousing Solution SAN JOSE, Calif., (July 18, 1995) -- Informix Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:IFMX), the leader in parallel processing database technology, announced at its Worldwide User Conference today, INFORMIX(R)-OnLine Extended Parallel Server 8.0 (OnLine XPS), a new high-performance, scalable database server based on Informix's industry-leading Dynamic Scalable Architecture(TM) (DSA). OnLine XPS extends DSA to loosely coupled, "shared nothing" computing architectures including clusters of symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) systems and massively parallel processing (MPP) systems. Informix worked closely with AT&T Global Information Solutions, IBM, and ICL during the development of OnLine XPS. The three vendors supplied hardware systems and expertise that enabled the OnLine XPS development team to tune the new database server specifically for each vendor's approach to shared-nothing architectures. OnLine XPS allows organizations to take advantage of this new generation of multiprocessor systems that provide for more cost-effective, scalable, open solutions for very large database (VLDB) requirements, rather than investing in traditional proprietary, mainframe environments. OnLine XPS' high availability, systems management, based on the industry-leading Tivoli Management Environment (TME), data partitioning, enhanced parallel SQL operations, and other features are designed to make the management of VLDB applications easier and more cost effective. OnLine XPS also offers a significant improvement in performance formission-critical, data-intensive tasks associated with data warehousing, decision support, imaging, document management and workflow, and other VLDB operational environments. "OnLine XPS is designed to be the premier high-end database server for cluster and MPP systems," said Mike Saranga senior vice president, product management and development, Informix. "We have already achieved stunning performance with the pre-sales version of this product including the ability to scan over one million records a second and load data at a rate greater than one hundred gigabytes an hour. OnLine XPS is truly the first open systems database product that can effectively handle terabytes of data on a broad set of platforms." OnLine XPS and Data Warehousing The performance and scalability of OnLine XPS, coupled with Informix tools and industry-leading partners, offer customers the most powerful and comprehensive data warehousing solution available today. "The data warehousing market is exploding," said Phil White, chairman and CEO ofInformix Software. "To make faster and more strategic business decisions, today's organizations require a central database, or data warehouse, for combining and storing vast amounts of data from different sources. OnLine XPS isalready beating our competitors in the largest data warehousing customer benchmarks, as evidenced by our recent customer win at MCI." In April 1995, OnLine XPS early customer MCI Communications Corp. (MCI), selected OnLine XPS over IBM DB2 AIX Parallel Edition and Oracle Parallel Serveras the database infrastructure for a three terabyte data warehouse application for its Consumer Markets Division. MCI selected OnLine XPS after a thorough testing period evaluating performance, reliability, scalability and vendor responsiveness. Although Informix databases, such as OnLine XPS and INFORMIX-OnLine Dynamic Server(TM), are at the heart of data warehousing solutions, other products and services must integrate with the databases to ensure a successful data warehouseimplementation. A critical component of a data warehouse architecture is online analytical processing (OLAP). Informix delivers relational multidimensional capabilities through strategic partnerships with three leading vendors, Information Advantage, MicroStrategy, and Stanford Technology Group. Informix also has proven partnerships with best-in-class technology providers, such as Business Objects, Coopers & Lybrand, Evolutionary Technologies, KPMG, Price Waterhouse, Prism, and SHL Systemhouse, to provide capabilities such as data modeling, data extraction, data access, multidimensional analysis, and systems integration. Informix's database technology and its open data warehouse strategy allows customers to leverage the best products and partners to create their data warehousing environment. Availability and Pricing Initial availability, on a limited basis, of OnLine XPS is scheduled for Q3 1995 on AT&T GIS' new enterprise MPP server, IBM's RISC System/6000 SP (RS/6000 SP) and ICL's new GOLDRUSH MegaServer. General availability of OnLine XPS on these three platforms is scheduled for 1996. Additional platforms, including UNIX platforms from Digital Equipment, Hewlett-Packard, Pyramid, Sequent, Siemens-Nixdorf, Silicon Graphics, Sun Microsystems, and Unisys, as well as Intel-based platforms running on Windows NT, are scheduled to become available beginning in Q4 1995, and will continue to become available through 1996. OnLine XPS pricing will be announced in Q3 1995 at the time of initial availability. About Informix Informix Software is the leading supplier of high performance, parallel processing database technology for open systems. The company's database servers are the number one choice of computer hardware manufacturers for publishing Transaction Processing Council (TPC) benchmarks for UNIX-based systems. Informix products also include application development tools for creating client/server production applications, decision support systems and ad-hoc query interfaces, and connectivity software that allows information to be shared transparently from PCs to mainframes within the corporate computing environment. The company's corporate headquarters is in Menlo Park, California. ### INFORMIX, Dynamic Scalable Architecture, and OnLine Dynamic Server, are trademarks of Informix Software, Inc. All other names indicated by R or TM are trademarks their respective owners. -- %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% William Daul Advanced Support INFORMIX SOFTWARE INC. 4100 Bohannon Dr. (415) 926-6488 - wk Menlo Park, CA. 94025 uunet!infmx!billd or billd@informix.com