CHEMISTRY

NEW YORK, Oracle Corporation, the world's largest enterprise software company, today announced 32-bit and 64-bit support for the AMD Opteron(TM) processor, at the AMD Opteron processor launch in New York City. The AMD Opteron processor, based on AMD64 architecture, is able to natively run both existing 32-bit x86 and new 64-bit operating systems and applications. By supporting both the Linux and Windows operating systems (OS) on the AMD Opteron processor, Oracle continues to be the leading enterprise software provider for customers requiring the most reliable and scalable technology and application platform. Oracle is also the leader in offering customers platform choice when running mission-critical applications. With this announcement, Oracle announces general availability of Oracle9i Database on the AMD Opteron processor running 32-bit Linux. Oracle9i Database on 32-bit Windows and all of Oracle's other software products, including Oracle9i Application Server, Oracle Collaboration Suite and Oracle E-Business Suite, are expected to be available on 32-bit Linux and Windows in the upcoming months. Initial tests show that Oracle's products, running on a 32- bit OS on AMD Opteron processors, exhibit excellent performance, benefiting from the innovative features of the AMD Opteron processor-based platform architecture, including the integrated memory controller and HyperTransport technology. The AMD Opteron processor allows customers to run both 32-bit and 64-bit applications on the same platform and as a result offers customers an easy and flexible migration to 64-bit computing. The AMD Opteron processor enables 64-bit computing while remaining compatible with existing 32-bit applications. Now enterprises can initially choose Oracle9i Database technology on a 32-bit OS running on AMD Opteron processors and when ready, upgrade their Oracle database and OS to 64-bit computing on the same AMD Opteron processor-based system, usually with little or no changes to their applications. "Oracle is excited about teaming with AMD to bring the most scalable, reliable and high performance enterprise software onto AMD's low cost Opteron processor platform," said Brom Mahbod, vice president, Enterprise Platforms Division at Oracle Corp. "The availability of Oracle software on the AMD Opteron processor platform offers customers flexibility in their strategy to move to 64-bit computing and enables them to protect current and future technology investments." "IDC's workloads research has consistently shown that many customers continue to deploy database solutions in 32-bit computing environments," said Matthew Eastwood, Research Director, IDC. "Oracle's support of AMD's Opteron processor will allow customers to gain additional headroom for these databases without moving off platform. This approach offers tremendous advantages for many customers faced with expensive database conversions." Applications Can Be Easily Migrated to 64-bit Computing Oracle is also announcing that it is making a developer release of Oracle9i Database for 64-bit Linux on AMD Opteron processors available for download from Oracle Technology Network. Developers can download this release if they are looking for a simple way to migrate their applications from 32-bit to 64-bitcomputing. "AMD and Oracle realize customers want solutions that run well on a high- performing, scalable and reliable hardware platform - while reducing costs of IT operations," said Marty Seyer, vice president and general manager of AMD's Microprocessor Business Unit. "We have worked together to optimize the AMD Opteron processor platform for Oracle to offer a scalable, cost-effective solution for running enterprise applications."