Press Release

Kx Systems boosts transaction commit speed
10-50x with Solid Data

Kdb logs up to 5000 transactions per second using
Solid Data solid-state disk technology

Palo Alto, CA (July 31, 2002) - Kx Systems, leader in enabling financial firms to meet the challenges of acquiring, managing and analyzing massive amounts of business data at extremely high speeds, and Solid Data Systems, leader in solid-state disk systems for the telecommunications and financial services industries, today announced that the kdb ultra high performance database from Kx Systems logs transactions up to 50 times faster using Solid Data solid-state disk.

In tests run at Solid Data, kdb logged 1,000 fully synchronous transactions per second on a Microsoft Windows 2000 system and 5,000 transactions per second on a Sun Solaris system. The Solid Data solid-state disk replaces the typical magnetic disks used on these systems, which limit synchronous commits to 100 transactions per second.

"Transaction logging performance is essential to financial firms that must ensure the reliability of larger volumes of transactions, for example in e-commerce," said Arthur Whitney, Kx Systems CTO. "By adding a Solid Data solid-state disks to either a Windows or Solaris system, our kdb customers can confidently scale to handle more transactions faster, while ensuring transaction reliability and maintaining the cost-effectiveness of their desktop or midrange hardware."

Current kdb customers are processing thousands of database updates per second, compensating for disk limitations by using kdb bulk updates to log transactions. With the Solid Data solid-state disk, bulk logging can be reduced or eliminated altogether. Comments Whitney, "It's not only existing applications that benefit. Solid Data and kdb offer new applications a true breakthrough by combining the ability to log higher transaction volumes with the use of lower-cost hardware platforms."

Solid Data tested kdb transaction performance on a Sun E-450 server with four 400 Mhz CPUs and 512 MB of main memory. The Windows test was run on a Pentium 4, 1.8 GHz CPU with 512 MB DRAM. "Kdb and Solid Data deliver accelerated performance without risk to transaction reliability," said Wade Tuma, founder and CEO of Solid Data Systems. "By delivering transaction commits at the speed of main memory, and with the persistence of disk storage, Solid Data helps kdb customers achieve high transaction rates while ensuring persistent capture of every transaction. Also, by eliminating mechanical disk latency, Solid Data solid-state disk increases server efficiency and CPU utilization, enabling customers to lower their per-transaction costs."

Kdb, an ultra high-performance relational database, is used by leading financial firms worldwide-including Island ECN, Credit Suisse First Boston, Zurich Financial Systems and others-to shorten time for management and analysis of data.

About Kx Systems
Since 1993, Kx Systems has enabled leading companies worldwide to meet the challenges of acquiring, managing and analyzing massive amounts of business data in real-time. To address the widening gap between what ordinary databases deliver and what today's businesses really need, Kx Systems offers next-generation products built for speed, scalability and efficient data management. Visit Kx on the web at www.kx.com.

About Solid Data Systems
Solid Data Systems is the leading global provider of solid-state storage systems that multiply the throughput of business-critical, transaction-intensive applications. Solid Data's products are based on solid-state memory technology and are designed to provide near-instant access to data storage. These compact, rack-mount systems combine the speed of main memory with the persistence (non-volatility) of external disk storage - enabling enterprises to multiply the transaction performance of general-purpose systems, reduce complexity, and scale their infrastructures cost effectively. Customers include global telecommunications equipment integrators and financial service providers. Visit Solid Data on the web at www.soliddata.com.

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