Penguin Computing and Red Hat Inc. Announce Strategic Partnership: Leading Linux Companies Join Forces

Both Companies Announce Joint Commitment to Cooperative Linux Solutions

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 17, 2001--Penguin Computing Inc., the premier provider of Internet infrastructure systems, and Red Hat Inc. (Nasdaq:RHAT), the leader in developing, deploying and managing open source solutions, today announced a partnership which offers Red Hat certification on Penguin Computing's solutions along with reliable certified Red Hat support for Penguin Computing's customers. The partnership offers the highest performance and reliability from the operating system to the hardware in addition to Linux-focused expertise for the customer.

From its inception, Penguin Computing has been Red Hat's only vendor to focus exclusively on Linux based platforms. The newly affirmed partnership continues in this tradition to establish Penguin Computing as a premier source of Red Hat certified hardware, software, and support, per the Red Hat certified hardware partnership program. In addition, the partnership provides Penguin Computing with early access to the Red Hat operating system releases, Red Hat certified systems and in-house Red Hat certified engineering support for customers. The partnership provides Red Hat with critical engineering feedback from Penguin Computing about Red Hat OS performance and customer needs on Linux solutions.

"Our strategy has always been to produce Linux systems that are built on solid hardware technologies and best-in-class software solutions," said Penguin Computing CEO Marty Seyer. "Our strategic relationship with Red Hat means that we can work closely to create the highest quality solutions available -- built from the ground up to be powered by Red Hat Linux."

"Our strategic partnership with Penguin Computing reinforces our commitment to providing unparalleled products and services to customers," said Red Hat CEO Matthew Szulik. "With their Linux-only focus and in-house expertise, Penguin Computing is a key development partner of ours. They provide us with input for better OS performance and optimization that enables Red Hat to release reliable upgrades sooner to our customers."

About Penguin Computing

Penguin Computing Inc. (http://www.penguincomputing.com) is the leading provider of reliable Linux systems for Internet serving. Founded in 1998 by Open Source advocate and active Linux community member Sam Ockman, Penguin Computing is based in San Francisco, California, and is privately held.

IDC predicts that the market for Linux servers will reach $5.7 billion by 2003, propelled by companies seeking both high reliability and cost effectiveness. Penguin Computing pursues this emerging market by providing Linux-powered servers to companies building Internet infrastructure.

About Red Hat Inc.

Red Hat is the leader in developing, deploying and managing solutions built on the benefits of an open source platform. These solutions include an open source product platform for devices to mainframes, a complete end to end set of Professional Services, and the Red Hat Network as the Internet-based backbone for deployment and management of the products and services. Red Hat's open source platform includes the award-winning Red Hat Linux operating system platform, the Interchange e-Commerce platform, Stronghold Secure Web Server, Credit Card Verification software, High Availability Server, GNU-based developer toolkit for embedded development, and embedded run-time Linux, eCOS, and RedBoot solutions.

Red Hat backs up their open source offerings with end-to-end services that include Red Hat Professional Consulting focused on multiplatfom infrastructure and engineering services, Red Hat Engineering services for software development and porting of the operating system and for embedded platforms and devices, Red Hat Enterprise support services for installation services and web and telephone support, and Red Hat Learning services for Linux certification (RHCE) and courses for Apache, Embedded systems, Advanced Developer, and e-Commerce. Red Hat Network provides Red Hat's unique managed services capability to deploy and manage open source products, services, support and management information on-line in real-time to more cost effectively and reliably maintain open source based solutions.

Red Hat is headquartered in Research Triangle Park, N.C. and has offices worldwide. Please visit Red Hat on the Web at www.redhat.com. For investor inquiries, contact Gabriel Szulik at Red Hat, 919/547-0012.

Note to Editors: Penguin Computing is a registered trademark of Penguin Computing Inc. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. All other trademarks are the property of their respective holders.