CUPERTINO, Calif., Sept. 19 -- Zend Technologies, Inc., the PHP company, and creator of products and services supporting the development, deployment and management of open source PHP-based applications, today announced Zend Platform 2. This new version of the first-ever management platform for PHP applications uniquely delivers the reliability, scalability and interoperability required for business critical applications. Zend Platform 2 brings enhanced application performance and simplified data synchronization. New features include:

-- State-of-the-art session clustering, which dramatically improves web application performance, uptime and response time
-- Enhanced PHP Intelligence modules, an unmatched back-in-time feature to easily reproduce problems all the way to their source
-- PHP configuration cloning across servers
-- Faster, streamlined execution of PHP applications

Zend Platform was initially developed based on feedback from thousands of Zend customers using open source PHP for their web applications, and seeking a robust PHP application management solution to increase availability and ensure rapid response time. Features in this new version make these customers' open source PHP based web applications as scalable and as reliable as those developed with commercial technologies today.

"Zend Platform 2 delivers the exact functionality and capabilities our customers always wanted. They were instrumental in helping us focus on those needs first and foremost," said Doron Gerstel, President and CEO, Zend technologies, Inc. "Zend Platform 2 is the only management solution for PHP offering Session Clustering to ensure superior PHP application performance and response time required for mission critical applications. Zend Platform 2 makes their applications as competitive as those designed with commercial solutions but at a fraction of the cost."

"Zend Platform 2 Session Clustering significantly improves the scalability of our Web Cluster," said Mr. Stephan Esch, CTO and management member at FreeNet, one of the most popular Internet providers and the largest PHP cluster in Germany. "With the always increasing number of FreeNet users, it is crucial to maintain our site's availability and ensure its response time for continued user satisfaction. The Zend Session Clustering is far superior to other existing mechanisms -- easier to operate and more fail-safe."

"The new manageability and performance features of Zend Platform 2 helps to ensure that the Marktplaats.nl web site is available at all times," said Mr. Bret Kelly, CTO at Marktplaats. Marktplaats.nl, the leading classified marketplace in The Netherlands, and was recently acquired by eBay. "With Zend Platform 2, we can address critical issues related to slow response time or execution failures before they can affect our customers."

Session Clustering -- Unique Solution for Heavy User Loads

Many Zend customers run business critical heavy-duty PHP applications, which are frequently put under heavy user load. These applications are usually serviced by multi-server Web clusters running identical PHP applications. This includes a load balancer between servers in a cluster, allowing applications to scale as usage increases. Web cluster operators have experienced performance degradation when adding more servers to their cluster in order to address increased user load.

Zend Platform 2 is designed to provide a comprehensive solution to the problem of synchronizing session data across a cluster in a cost effective manner. With Zend Platform Session Clustering, session data is stored on the server where sessions are established, and subsequently are delivered to other servers in the cluster by requesting the session data from the original server. It addresses all the issues encountered with other solutions, as far as scalability, performance, security, and data integrity. For more detailed information of Zend Platform Session Clustering, download the Zend Platform Session Clustering white paper at: www.zend.com/platform.

Multi-User Support Made Easy

Zend Platform 2 also incorporates improvements in multi-user support for configuration across nodes, and no longer requires access to individual nodes. Configuration can now be done entirely through the Zend Central Server. Database improvements include the addition of the embedded MySQL database engine, support tool GUI, and the ability to open a support ticket from the Zend Central console. Finally, an easier installation procedure is provided for an upgraded experience.

Zend Platform is part of a complete Zend solution offering, supporting the application life-cycle of PHP applications, which include: the leading PHP IDE, Zend Studio, which is tightly integrated with Zend Platform; Zend Studio Enterprise for development, testing and staging of PHP applications; Zend Encoder to protect businesses intellectual property and code; Zend Safeguard Suite to easily manage different licensing models for ISVs; Zend Core for certified and supported PHP; Zend Training; Zend Professional Services and Zend Network for first class support up to 24x7.

Pricing and Availability

Zend Platform 2 is available now through an aggressively priced subscription plan, which includes expert technical support and year-long access to updates and enhancements. For a single processor server, pricing is $995 and $1495 for a two (or more) processors server. Zend Platform 2 is available for Linux today and will support SPARC Solaris, FreeBSD and Mac OS later in the month. Zend offers unlimited free support for Zend Platform 2 during the evaluation period.

http://www.zend.com