News Release

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 10, 2000--Overland Data Inc. (NASDAQ:OVRL), a technology leader in tape backup products, today announced that its AIT(a) LibraryPro(TM), the only modularly scalable AIT library available, will support Sony Electronics' newly announced AIT-3 tape drive technology, effectively doubling storage capacity and performance.

With the addition of new AIT-3 drives, Overland's LibraryPro provides users with the most scalable AIT library on the market, offering configurations from 700 GB to 47 TB of capacity and transfer rates from 10.8 GB per hour up to 1.85 TB/hr. Efficiently designed for rackmount capability, the LibraryPro takes up from 4 U to 36 U depending on the configuration and storage capacity requirement.

The LibraryPro boasts a per-module capacity of 20 AIT-3 cartridges and can be scaled up to nine modules for a maximum configuration of 18 TB native capacity (up to 47 TB with compression) and maximum throughput of 713 GB/hr (up to 1.85 TB/hr with compression).

The third generation of Sony's Advanced Intelligent Tape format offers 100 GB of native capacity (up to 260 GB with compression) and an 11MB/sec sustained native transfer rate (29 MB/sec with compression) in the standard 3.5-inch half-height form factor. Like the previous generations, AIT-3 drives are fully read and write backward compatible with AIT-1 and AIT-2 media.

"As the only modularly scalable AIT library available, as well as the most versatile AIT library on the market, the LibraryPro is an intelligent choice to capitalize on the reliability and performance of the AIT-3 format," said Steve Richardson, vice president of marketing at Overland. "Sony's commitment to expanding the value of the AIT line with a strong roadmap makes it easy for LibraryPro users to protect their investment in Overland automated storage technology."

"AIT technology and next-generation tape libraries like the LibraryPro are essential to meet explosive market demands for archival data storage," said John Woelbern, senior marketing manager of tape streamer products for Sony Electronics' Component Company. "The combination of an innovative, scalable library with our new AIT-3 technology offers a cost-effective storage solution for the growing backup and archival needs for the data storage market."

Overland's LibraryPro combines the company's ultra-reliable Mainframe Class Robotics technology with the inherent advantages of Sony's AIT technology, which offers the highest data transfer rate, cartridge capacity, longest head life and fastest time to data of all mid-range backup systems in their price class. LibraryPro allows customers to scale the capacity and performance in increments for a customized solution to precisely match their specific storage needs, not locking them into restrictive monolithic library designs that dictate fixed drive and cartridge slot configurations.

The innovative distributed robotics architecture of the LibraryPro is based on the company's highly reliable DLT(a) LibraryXpress(TM) design, which provides modular plug-and-play scalability, and which has won more than 25 editorial awards worldwide, unmatched by any other automated data storage product.

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

The LibraryPro with new AIT-3 tape drives will be available in mid-2001.

About Overland

Overland Data Inc. (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 mid-range 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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