Kickfire Launches First Analytic Appliance for the Data Warehousing Mass Market

Kickfire`s MySQL Appliance Delivers World`s #1 Analytic Price/Performance
SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(Business Wire)--
Kickfire, Inc., has launched the first analytic appliance that affordably
delivers the high-performance capabilities of large commercial database systems
to the mass market. The data warehousing mass market constitutes those
deployments in the gigabytes to low terabytes which, according to IDC, represent
over three quarters of the total market1. Kickfire`s analytic appliance targets
the MySQL segment which has 12 million active installations and is growing at
over 30% a year.

The MySQL market presents significant challenges to existing data warehousing
vendors. Customers need performance but are very price-sensitive. They have
limited data warehousing expertise and few IT resources with which to deploy
solutions. Finally, early-stage data warehousing deployments, typical in the
mass market, often include mixed workload characteristics which other vendors
cannot support.

"Kickfire`s targeting of the mass market is right on the money, particularly now
that we are in an economic downturn. This is an under-served market that
represents a great opportunity for the company and helps clearly differentiate
them from the competition," stated Wayne Eckerson, director of Research for The
Data Warehousing Institute.

World`s #1 Analytic Price/Performance

Kickfire`s revolutionary appliance delivers the industry`s highest performance
per dollar spent. Starting at just $32,000, it makes the high-end capabilities
of commercial database systems available to every organization. Combining the
industry`s first SQL chip, which packs the power of 10`s of CPUs, and an
advanced column-store engine with full ACID compliance, it achieves the
industry`s best price/performance based on rigorous benchmark tests and ensures
complete data integrity. The small form factor and low power consumption of the
device are ideal for today`s cost- and green-conscious customers.

Plug-and-play Simplicity

Thanks to its plug-and-play design, Kickfire`s appliance removes the need for
deep data warehousing expertise and costly IT resources. Unlike other solutions,
Kickfire offers a true appliance that is integrated and optimized down to the
operating system level with features like Active System Monitor which notifies
users of any potential system anomaly. Kickfire`s appliance runs standard MySQL
Enterprise which means customers automatically benefit from MySQL`s hallmark
ease-of-use and extensive third-party application connectivity. The MySQL
Migration Wizard allows existing MySQL customers to simply point and click to
move from their existing hardware to Kickfire`s appliance.

Scalability for the Mass Market

Kickfire`s MySQL Appliance was built to scale to the needs of the mass market in
terms of data volumes, user concurrency and workload type. The appliance handles
data sizes from the gigabytes to the low terabytes today. It offers high-user
concurrency on a single node, supporting 100 concurrent users and 1,000 active
users. With fast bulk loading as well as fast incremental loading, the Kickfire
Appliance can handle traditional as well as operational workloads.

"Kickfire developed a revolutionary appliance that will usher in a new era of
data warehousing. The company has truly cracked the code on how to reach the
mass market. When customers tell you that your product is `magic` you know
you`ve got it right!" commented Bruce Armstrong, chairman and chief executive
officer of Kickfire.

About Kickfire

Kickfire provides the first high-performance, easy-to-use analytic appliance for
the data warehousing mass market. Based on a patented SQL chip that packs the
power of 10`s of CPUs into an exceptionally small, low-power form factor, the
Kickfire MySQL Appliance delivers a quantum leap in performance efficiency --
avoiding the hardware build out, power, and space costs of today's data
warehouse offerings. By delivering astoundingly fast query performance out of
the box, Kickfire`s plug-and-play appliance enables organizations to use MySQL
for demanding business intelligence, reporting, and analysis. Kickfire
appliances scale from gigabytes to terabytes and are based on Linux and
commodity hardware. They leverage the openness of MySQL and its entire ecosystem
to ensure compatibility and rapid deployment. Kickfire is backed by blue-chip
venture capital firms: Accel Partners, Greylock Partners, The Mayfield Fund and
Pinnacle Ventures. For more information, please visit www.kickfire.com.

Kickfire is a trademark of Kickfire, Inc.

All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

1 Source: IDC and Computerworld Survey of BI Buyers, June 2008.

Kickfire
Beverley Bird, 408-450-5430
bbird@kickfire.com

Copyright Business Wire 2009