Dell PowerEdge Servers With Red Hat Linux Offer Top Performance Benchmarks

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Dell, a world leader in Internet commerce and infrastructure computing, and Red Hat, Inc., a leading provider of open source solutions for Internet infrastructure, announced today at the opening of the LinuxWorld Conference & Expo here a new benchmark test that shows DellTM PowerEdgeTM servers running Red Hat Linux to be the fastest Web solution of those tested in a Web server environment.

Test results for 33 servers running SPECweb99, the Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation's benchmark for measuring the performance of web servers, have been posted on SPEC's Web site, http://www.spec.org, since August, 1999. The SPECweb99 benchmark simulates how many individual visitors can be connected to a particular Internet or intranet site simultaneously.

Dell and Red Hat worked together with the open source community to configure several servers for the SPECweb99 benchmark. The fastest systems were the Dell PowerEdge 8450 and Dell PowerEdge 6400 servers running Red Hat Linux 6.2 modified with a beta version of the upcoming 2.4 Linux kernel and the new TUX web server developed at Red Hat.

"The 2.4.x Linux kernel provides nice scalability as is demonstrated through TUX's impressive SPECweb99 benchmark figures," said Linus Torvalds. "These benchmark results show how the open source community drives advanced performance computing concepts - TUX pulls together these concepts to take full advantage of the performance enhancements of the 2.4 kernel."

In these tests, the eight-way PowerEdge 8450 running Red Hat Linux 6.2 was able to accommodate 6,387 Web connections, 99 percent faster than the closest competitor's submitted performance benchmark for systems with eight or more processors. The PowerEdge 6400 with Red Hat Linux 6.2 supported 4,200 Web connections, about 133 percent more than the nearest four-processor system benchmark submitted. For SPEC's complete test results visit http://www.spec.org/osg/web99/results/.

About Red Hat TUX 1.0
The Red Hat Threaded Linux Web Server Add-on (TUX) is a new Web server available from Red Hat in August 2000, and is comprised of a new kernel and a small set of changes to existing machines to utilize the new kernel technology. TUX makes use of kernel level operation to achieve higher efficiency in dealing with the kernel's TCP/IP stack and provides a configuration and setup interface to user space applications. Major improvements in performance are achieved by using hardware independent algorithms to improve efficiency of operation and reduce the amount of work that is done more than once in typical network application.

SPECweb99 is a trademark of the Standard Performance Evaluations Corp. (SPEC). Competitive numbers shown reflect results published on www.spec.org as of August 14, 2000. For the lastest SPECweb99 results, visit http://www.spec.org/osg/web99.

About Dell

About Dell
Dell Computer Corporation (Nasdaq:DELL) is the world's leading direct computer systems company, based on revenues of $28.5 billion for the past four quarters, and is a premier provider of products and services required for customers to build their Internet infrastructures. The company ranks No. 56 on the Fortune 500, No. 210 on the Fortune Global 500 and No. 3 on the Fortune "most admired" lists of companies. Dell designs, manufactures and customizes products and services to customer requirements, and offers an extensive selection of software and peripherals. Information on Dell and its products can be obtained on the World Wide Web at www.dell.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Forward-looking statements in this press release are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Investors are cautioned that statements in this press release that are not strictly historical statements, including, without limitation, management's plans and objectives for future operations, and management's assessment of market factors, constitute forward-looking statements which involve risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, reliance upon strategic relationships, management of growth, the possibility of undetected software errors, the risks of economic downturns generally, and in Red Hat's industry specifically, the risks associated with competition and competitive pricing pressures, the viability of the Internet, and other risks detailed in Red Hat's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, copies of which may be accessed through the SEC's Web site at http://www.sec.gov.

Dell and Red Hat Footnote

Dell, PowerEdge, PowerVault and OpenManage are trademarks of Dell Computer Corporation. Dell disclaims any proprietary interest in the marks and names of others. Red Hat Linux is a registered trademark of Red Hat, Inc. LINUX is a trademark of Linus Torvalds. RED HAT is a registered trademark of Red Hat, Inc. All other names and trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

  • About Red Hat
  • Red Hat is the world’s leading provider of open source software solutions, using a community-powered approach to reliable and high-performing cloud, Linux, middleware, storage and virtualization technologies. Red Hat also offers award-winning support, training, and consulting services. As the connective hub in a global network of enterprises, partners, and open source communities, Red Hat helps create relevant, innovative technologies that liberate resources for growth and prepare customers for the future of IT. Learn more at http://www.redhat.com.



  • Forward-Looking Statements
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