MISSION CRITICAL LINUX LAUNCHES INNOVATIVE HIGH-AVAILABILITY CLUSTER PRODUCT

-Leadership cluster solution, based on Open Source technology, to ship in July-

Lowell, MA - June 28, 2000 - Mission Critical Linux, Inc., the cutting-edge Linux products and services company, today announced plans to launch its high-availability Convolo Cluster solution. The Convolo Cluster is the first Linux-specific cluster solution for enterprise computing environments to offer high availability while guaranteeing data integrity - even in the face of multiple hardware and software failures. Built on Open Source Kimberlite cluster technology pioneered by Mission Critical Linux and demonstrated at this week's PC Expo 2000, Convolo Clusters adds full product qualification on leading commodity hardware platforms (API, IBM, VA Linux, Compaq) and Linux distributions including TurboLinux, VA Linux, SuSE, Caldera, Mandrake, Debian, and Red Hat, as well as comprehensive product warranty and support services.

By leveraging Open Source technology, the Convolo Cluster can deliver to customers a level of flexibility not found in proprietary cluster systems. Optimized for use on commodity hardware, the solution is ideal for businesses seeking a cost-effective, yet exceedingly scalable and modifiable means to achieve high availability for mission-critical applications, regardless of their breadth or complexity.
"In addition to addressing true systems failures and planned shutdowns, our solution effectively combats

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network outages and system hangs, the two critical points of failure not effectively managed by any Linux cluster system on the market," said Moiz Kohari, President and CEO of Mission Critical Linux.

Data Integrity Guaranteed
Convolo Clusters are carefully designed to guarantee the highest levels of data integrity with commodity hardware through elegant and innovative design features. For example, by using simple, commodity, programmable power controllers, the solution can safely remove unreliable nodes from the cluster, guaranteeing data integrity even after multiple failures. Although measures this extreme are rarely required, the design eliminates data integrity loopholes that no other commodity product addresses.

Other highlights include:

·   Support for two servers, or nodes - two-node clusters provide the most cost-effective way to realize significant availability gains.
·   Shared disk configuration support - shared disk cluster configurations using either SCSI or Fibre Channel are supported, allowing both nodes direct access to all the shared disks.
·   Multiple polling interconnects - nodes poll each other across combinations of Ethernet, serial line, SCSI, and Fibre Channel interconnects. By supporting multiple polling interconnects, the cluster continues to operate correctly even if one or more interconnects fail.
·   Quorum-based membership - nodes use a quorum partition to definitively determine cluster membership and synchronize shared state information. Convolo Clusters are unique in supporting shadowed quorum partitions for enhanced availability.
·   Disk partition-level access granularity. An important feature of Convolo Clusters is that node access to shared disks is at the partition level. Most cluster products use disk-level access granularity where each entire disk is accessed by only one node at a time. With today's large disks and RAID arrays, such coarse granularity is limiting. By allowing partition-level access, customers can fine tune which data is accessed by each node and support parallel applications requiring consistent storage access from all nodes.
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Ready-to-Go Cluster Solutions
Mission Critical Linux offers an extensive portfolio of pre-packaged, cost-effective Linux solutions
including clustered Web, Database, and Network File Servers. Visit www.missioncriticallinux.com for more details.   

Pricing and Availability
Convolo Cluster software is orderable today, with availability scheduled for late July 2000. Pricing is $995 per node, including 60-day warranty service. The solution can be deployed in conjunction with Mission Critical Linux's full array of professional service and support packages, ranging from onsite installation to rapid-response, 24x7 service. Convolo Clusters are also available through the Company's channel partners.

Training Available
Mission Critical Linux offers a series of two-day Cluster Training Seminars at its Lowell, Massachusetts headquarters and its Santa Clara, California office starting July 17th. Advance registration for these seminars is now under way. Visit the Company web site for details.

About Mission Critical Linux, Inc.
Mission Critical Linux provides the products, services, Open Source technologies, and expertise to ensure the success of enterprise Linux deployments. The Company's portfolio includes the leadership high-availability Convolo Cluster solutions based on Open Source Kimberlite technology pioneered by Mission Critical Linux; unique Web-enabled diagnostic and system management solutions; Linux kernel enhancements; advanced training; and deep engineering expertise across all major Linux distributions and heterogeneous software and hardware platforms. Headquartered in Lowell, Mass., Mission Critical Linux has offices around the world and can be reached at www.missioncriticallinux.com or at (877) 53LINUX or (978) 446-9166.

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