News Release

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 11, 2000--Overland Data Inc. (Nasdaq:OVRL), a technology leader in tape backup products, today announced that DaimlerChrysler Germany has selected Overland's AIT (a) LibraryPro(TM) automated data storage solution for two German Mercedes-Benz branch offices, in Frankfurt and Darmstadt.

The Mercedes-Benz branch in Frankfurt/Offenbach, one of Mercedes- Benz's first-ever regional sales divisions, was founded in 1889 and consists of six offices with 1,010 employees. With 280 employees, the Darmstadt office is also part of the regional sales office network.

The Mercedes-Benz regional sales offices provide the automotive manufacturer's full range of products, including all automobiles, transporters and omnibuses in their new and used lines. Besides the comprehensive sales offering, the branches offer the possibility of leasing and buying on credit, as well as the vehicle maintenance and insurance.

Mercedes-Benz sought to centralize data backup for all connected branch offices, and required a scalable solution in order to enable the combination of the different locations' units into one. With this in mind, and because of an increasing data load, the company needed performance and reliability. Previous backup solutions based on DDS3 and DLT 4000 technology were no longer able to handle the data storage requirements.

According to Dieter Roth, IT administrator at DaimlerChrysler Frankfurt/Offenbach branch, and Michael Lafloer, IT manager at the Darmstadt branch: "We selected the Overland product because of its high performance, reliability and above all scalability of the Overland AIT LibraryPro. What we got, along with a product that specifically met our needs, was unparalleled service and support and an unbeatable warranty."

"The DaimlerChrysler regional branches are a vivid demonstration of the full capabilities of our breakthrough storage automation technology," said Steve Richardson, vice president of marketing at Overland.

"The AIT LibraryPro product was designed exactly for the type of storage issues that faced the regional sales offices of DaimlerChrysler as a company with fast-changing storage requirements that demand an extremely reliable and scalable backup solution that wouldn't be obsolete as soon as it was installed.

"The AIT LibraryPro has performed extremely well in installations worldwide and in the most demanding applications for high-quality service of automotive manufacturers. Other customers can look to the German DaimlerChrysler installation as a model of what Overland technology can do for 24/7 business operations."

All LibraryPro products are backed by the company's innovative Guaranteed Up Time Service (GUTS(TM)) warranty program guaranteeing 99 percent uptime performance and 100 percent data recovery, the only guarantee of its kind in the industry.

About Overland

Overland Data (Nasdaq:OVRL) is a global supplier of innovative data storage and storage automation solutions for computer networks. The company's award-winning DLT LibraryXpress(TM) SmartScale Storage(R) architecture has set the standard for intelligent automated storage and scalability and established Overland as a leader in the midrange tape storage market.

Today, Overland is broadening its product line and technology offerings to address additional segments of the storage market, including the entry-level small-business market as well as the higher-end enterprise environment.

Overland's patented Variable Rate Randomizer (VR2(TM)) data encoding technology, capable of substantially increasing the capacity and throughput of linear tape formats, is being applied by the company to its entry-level tape drive offerings. It has also been licensed to Imation Corp., Seagate Technology, StorageTek and Tandberg Data.

Overland products, acclaimed for their quality and reliability, are sold worldwide through leading OEMs, including Compaq, Fujitsu Siemens Computers, Groupe Bull, IBM and NCR commercial distributors such as Bell Microproducts, Ingram Micro and Tech Data Corp., as well as storage integrators and value-added resellers.

(a) Advanced Intelligent Tape and AIT are trademarks of Sony Electronics.

Except for the factual statements made herein, the information contained in this news release consists of forward-looking statements that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Words and expressions reflecting optimism and satisfaction with current prospects, as well as words such as "believe," "intends," "expects," "plans," "anticipates" and variations thereof, identify forward-looking statements, but their absence does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of performance, and the company's actual results could differ materially from those contained in such statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include unexpected shortages of critical components, rescheduling or cancellation of customer orders, loss of a major customer, the timing and market acceptance of new product introductions by the company and its competitors, general competition and price pressures in the marketplace, and the company's ability to control costs and expenses. Reference is also made to other factors set forth in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the "Risk Factors," "Management's Discussion and Analysis" and other sections of the company's Form 10-K for the most recently completed fiscal year. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this release, and the company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements to reflect new information, events or circumstances after the date of this release.

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