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Industry First: Overland Data's Neo Libraries Ensure Non-Stop Operation With Dual-Path Fibre Channel Connectivity

November 26, 2001
SAN DIEGO, Nov 26, 2001 (BUSINESS WIRE) --

Overland's Neo Series Enhances System Data Reliability with Addition of Dual-Path Fibre Channel

Overland Data Inc. (Nasdaq:OVRL), a market leader in both enterprise class and mid-range tape automation solutions, has announced dual-path capability for its embedded Fibre Channel Neo series automated tape libraries.

Overland's LXN2000 and LXN4000 Neo series tape libraries lead the industry in delivering the highest possible availability through their non-stop operation features. In a modularly scalable tape library, the Neo series now leads in Fibre Channel performance and connectivity by providing the first built-in 1 or 2 Gb/s native Fibre Channel interface with dual-path connection capability. Mission-critical applications can now take advantage of Neo's ability to support host connections through both a primary and secondary path, increasing overall system reliability and availability.

"We are excited about enhancing our ability to deliver the highest availability possible in a tape automation system. Dual-path Fibre Channel is a natural extension of our non-stop library architecture which is able to tolerate numerous component level failures without taking the system down," said Dave Morton, director of product management, Overland Data. "The marketplace demands this level of mission critical performance and 100 percent uptime. By providing two independent Fibre paths to a single library, Neo further reduces the risk of failure adding a new level of data protection for mission-critical systems."

Overland's unique distributed card approach provides two independent Fibre Channel access paths to any Neo series embedded Fibre library. This input path independence increases system availability and bandwidth and further eliminates potential points of failure. Traditionally, libraries have offered a single, dual-ported Fibre Channel input. These connection facilities are subject to single points of failure that can disrupt a host data path and make the tape library inaccessible to the system.

Neo's on-board remote library management tool (WEB TLC(TM)) makes it easy for system managers to configure a non-stop, dual-path Neo system. The redundant dual-path architecture ensures that no physical cable reconfigurations are necessary to invoke dual-path failover. Neo's Web TLC remote management functionality further ensures that dual input paths can be configured locally or remotely over a LAN or the Internet.

    About Neo
Overland's Neo LXN2000 and LXN4000 libraries establish new benchmarks in high availability by delivering non-stop operations in a modular tape library design. By delivering up to 24 TB native capacity and an advanced feature set, Neo brings affordable, enterprise-level performance to both large and small operating environments.

Neo can be purchased and installed in easy-to-configure modules. Each 10U-high LXN4000 tape library module supports up to four drives and 52 media slots while each 5U-high LXN2000 library module supports one or two drives and 26 media slots. Neo modules can be configured to support four LXN4000 or eight LXN2000 modules in a single virtual library system. Overland's virtual library environment makes it easy to configure each Neo as a large single system or as a number of smaller systems. Individual modules can be conveniently partitioned for maximum flexibility, and each may be supplied with DLT8000 or Super DLTtape drives for optimal compatibility and performance

Neo series libraries stand out from others on several fronts beyond just dual-path failover protection:

    --  Non-stop operation -- Neo's RAID-like architecture brings
        separate robotics to each module, eliminating the likelihood
        of a single point of failure.
    --  Overland's LiveSwap(TM) technology enables drives to be added
        or pulled without interrupting other library operations or
        re-inventorying the entire system
    --  The Virtual Interface Architecture bays permit flexible
        connection to all types of SCSI, Fibre Channel and a variety
        of future host interfaces, at the factory or in a system
        environment
    --  Neo series libraries deliver industry-leading footprint and
        space optimization configurations without impacting
        performance.
Overland products are backed by the company's innovative Guaranteed Up-Time Service (GUTS(TM)) warranty program, ensuring 99 percent up-time performance, the only guarantee of its kind in the industry. Neo LXN2000 and LXN4000 Fibre Channel libraries come standard with one year of on-site service, followed by two additional years of factory warranty.

    Availability
The LXN2000 is currently shipping in volume. Volume production of the LXN4000 is planned for Q1 2002. Click here for more details.

    About Overland
Overland Data Inc. is a global supplier of innovative data storage and storage automation solutions for computer networks. The company's reputation for delivering high availability products, as well as its award-winning SmartScale Storage(R) architecture which set the standard for intelligent automated storage and scalability, has established Overland as a leader in the mid-range tape automation market. Overland sells its products worldwide through leading OEMs, commercial distributors, storage integrators and value-added resellers.

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 or future 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 economic conditions and technology spending levels, 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.

CONTACT:          Overland Data Inc.
                  Investor Relations
                  Cynthia Bond or Vernon LoForti, 858/571-5555
                  cbond@overlanddata.com or vloforti@overlanddata.com
                  or
                  Mentus Inc.
                  Public Relations
                  Chris Dale, 858/455-5500
                  cdale@mentusonline.com

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