PRESS INFORMIX-ONLINE DYNAMIC SERVER VERSION 7.1 SETS NEW TPC-C PERFORMANCE RECORD

INFORMIX-ONLINE DYNAMIC SERVER VERSION 7.1 SETS NEW TPC-C PERFORMANCE RECORD 3,118.2 Transactions Per Minute is Highest TPC-C Result Ever Achieved on Open or Proprietary SMP System MENLO PARK, Calif. (Dec. 6, 1994) -- Informix Software Inc. (NASDAQ:IFMX), the leader in parallel processing database technology, today announced record-breaking TPC-C benchmark results for INFORMIX(R)-OnLine Dynamic Server(TM) version 7.1, the newest version of its multithreaded, parallel processing database server. OnLine Dynamic Server achieved a transaction rate of 3,118.2 tpmC on an 8-processor HP 9000 Model T500 with a price/performance rating of $984/tpmC. The result is the highest ever achieved on a symmetric multiprocessing (SMP) server. The next-highest result, which was performed on a proprietary system, is 30 percent per tpmC more costly than OnLine Dynamic Server. This is the first time OnLine Dynamic Server 7.1 has been used in a TPC test. Informix leads the industry in TPC-C benchmark results with 21 published to date using INFORMIX-OnLine 5.x, the company's high-performance, OLTP database server. Informix also holds the second- third-, and fourth-place positions in terms of performance on UNIX SMP servers with OnLine 5.x. This newest performance result with OnLine Dynamic Server version 7.1, is more than two times faster than the best TPC-C result of the nearest non-Informix UNIX database. "We agree with our competitors that TPC-C benchmarks are a valid measure of database performance and scalability, and we urge organizations concerned about database scalability to seriously review the TPC-C results of competing database vendors," said Phil White, chairman and CEO, Informix. "Informix is the only open systems database vendor that has demonstrated scalability for enterprise-class performance at the high-end. Our leadership with TPC benchmarks -- particularly TPC-Cs --coupled with this record-breaking benchmark result for version 7.1, confirm that Informix is the database performance leader for enterprisewide computing, and establish OnLine Dynamic Server's core technology, Dynamic Scalable Architecture(TM) (DSA), as the industry's best." "HP is pleased to work with industry-leading database vendors, like Informix, to provide customers with superior performance as they move to open enterprise computing," said Carol G. Mills, general manager of HP's General Systems Division. "With this outstanding TPC-C result, HP's high-end server offers proven performance scalability to meet our customers' data-center needs today. In addition, HP's Corporate Business Server provides the foundation for additional performance scalability to meet tomorrow's growing needs." The TPC-C benchmark test, developed in 1992 by the Transaction Processing Performance Council (TPC), is considered to be the best standard benchmark test for evaluating real-world application performance. OnLine Dynamic Server and Customer Benchmarks OnLine Dynamic Server's ability to successfully scale and demonstrate dramatic performance increases over rival database servers has also been illustrated through customer benchmarks. Informix has won more than a dozen large-scale customer benchmark tests with OnLine Dynamic Server version 7.1. Customers such as Holiday Inn, Home Depot, MCI, Transamerica Financial Corp., and Wells Fargo have tested OnLine Dynamic Server and have chosen it to run a variety of enterprisewide applications because of its superior scalability and performance. OnLine Dynamic Server version 7.1 is a powerful multithreaded database server designed to exploit the capabilities of both SMP and uniprocessor architectures to deliver breakthrough database scalability, manageability and performance. OnLine Dynamic Server provides the most effective parallel database technology available to help organizations manage increasingly larger, more complex database while substantially improving overall system performance and scalability. The HP 9000 Model T500 is based on HP's industry-leading HP-UX operating system and PA-RISC processor technology. The eight-processor Model T500 is ideal as a mainframe-alternative enterprise server and continues a trend that has established HP as the industry pacesetter for commercial UNIX computing with the flexibility for client/server environments. As the leading provider of UNIX system-based servers in the industry, HP offers its customers outstanding performance and scalability with comprehensive, standard network-management tools. 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 is a registered trademark, and Dynamic Scalable Architecture and OnLine Dynamic Server are trademarks of Informix Software, Inc. UNIX is a registered trademark in the United States and other countries, licensed exclusively by X/Open (TM) Company Limited. HP-UX is based on and is compatible with USL's UNIX(R) operating system. It also complies with X/Open's XPG4, POSIX 1003.1, 1003.2, 1003.2a; FIPS 151-1 and SVID2 interface specifications. PA-RISC stands for Precision Architecture reduced-instruction set-computing. All other companies mentioned or other names indicated by (R) or (TM) are registered trademarks their respective manufacturer. -- %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%% 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