Douglas J. Erwin Joins Newly Merged Dedicated Server Providers As CEO

Houston, July 6, 2006 – Douglas J. Erwin, a seasoned executive with 30 years of technology company leadership experience, joins newly merged EV1Servers and The Planet as the combined company’s chairman and CEO. He takes the helm at the world’s largest dedicated server provider, with over 50,000 web servers under management.

“With EV1Servers and The Planet already representing the upper echelon of dedicated hosting companies, our merger creates a powerhouse of resources for our customers,” said Erwin. “We have the scope, scale, and financial strength to deliver unmatched service levels and ground-breaking product offerings to existing and new customers.”

Customer benefits and future strategies include:
* Increased customer scalability. The company currently operates seven data centers, which feature 370,000 square feet of web hosting space and 64 Gbps of connectivity. Additional datacenter expansion is planned for the future and major network infrastructure upgrades are in progress. Plans are to continue expanding capacity, giving customers unparalleled redundancy, increased scalability and access to resources in both Dallas and Houston.
* Tools, functionality and cutting-edge technology with the industry’s fastest deployment. The merger doubles the company’s talent pool and R&D resources, allowing it to provide the latest technology at faster speeds. The current customer portal and auto provisioning systems will be combined, taking the best features and functionality of each, to provide the highest degree of control and fastest server deployment in the industry.
* Access to best practices from the industry leader. As resources and processes are combined, the company will assess best practices and streamline service offerings to provide the industry’s leading hosting solutions. The company will integrate the technology, hardware, billing, customer service and provisioning to give customers the most comprehensive server solution available.

Erwin brings a successful track record of funding, building, acquiring and integrating technology companies. Most recently he was chairman and CEO of blade server pioneer RLX Technologies. Under Erwin's leadership, RLX's Control Tower blade management software became an industry standard, leading to the company's October 2005 acquisition by Hewlett Packard. Prior to RLX, Erwin was co-founder, chairman and CEO of PentaSafe Technologies, a startup that became recognized as a leader in integrated security management solutions. PentaSafe was acquired by NetIQ in October 2002.

Previously, Erwin served as executive vice president and chief operating officer of BMC Software, Inc., the fifth largest software developer in the United States. Before joining BMC, Erwin worked for Northern Telecom in various senior management positions, including vice president, Network Services and Software Applications. He also spent 13 years at IBM where he held various sales and marketing positions.

Along with extensive technology company leadership experience, Erwin brings a unique sense of company culture and emphasis on employee development, which he hopes to instill within the two companies as they join forces. Under his leadership, PentaSafe was a two-time winner for “best company to work for” in Houston.

Erwin in 2000 was runner up for the Ernst and Young "Entrepreneur of the Year". In 2001, he was voted one of the top ten most influential in the high tech industry in Texas.

Erwin sits on the board of Rock Energy Partners, The Houston Technology Center, and YES Preparatory Schools. He is also the chairman of Target Hunger and the chairman of the Houston Make-a Wish Foundation. He received a degree in Economics from Duke University.