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Overland Brings Scalable AIT Storage to Linux Market in Solution With Knox Software

August 7, 2000

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 7, 2000--Overland Data Inc. (Nasdaq:OVRL), a technology leader in tape backup products, today announced that its AIT LibraryPro(TM) enterprise tape library has been certified by Knox Software as compatible with Knox's Arkeia(R) network backup software for Linux and other platforms.

Certification for the LibraryPro followed extensive testing and benchmarking by Knox engineers, earning the tape library a coveted spot on Knox's Recommended List of tape storage devices capable of taking full advantage of Arkeia.

The two companies announced that Knox's Arkeia(TM) enterprise network backup and recovery software is now certified for operation with the LibraryPro, giving Linux users a powerful, scalable data protection solution that can be configured to meet the needs of any organization -- from the table top to the data center -- and provides investment protection as a customer's storage requirements grow.

Overland will debut the new LibraryPro-Arkeia backup solution next week at the Linux World Conference and Expo at the San Jose Convention Center, Booth No. 509.

The Linux market has rapidly become a key OS platform, particularly for storage intensive Internet-based businesses. According to International Data Corp., Linux shipments represent 17 percent of the market for server operating systems, making it a prime opportunity for innovative storage solutions such as the Overland-Knox package.

"The dramatic success of the Linux market has created a demand for the same robust, scalable backup storage solutions that Overland has consistently delivered to UNIX and NT users," said Steve Richardson, vice president of Marketing at Overland. "Knox Software has a proven record of delivering high-powered backup software to the Linux community and the combination of Arkeia and LibraryPro creates an extremely reliable and attractive package for Linux users."

"IT administrators in large organizations are becoming aware of the advantages of tackling specific network administration chores like backup with low-cost, reliable appliances based on Linux," said Randy Thorburn, vice president, sales and marketing at Knox Software.

"Arkeia's multi-flow design is optimized for Linux, enabling the software to transfer data to the LibraryPro at the maximum possible throughput. The two products combine with the power of Linux to offer customers the ability to safely and cost-effectively archive hundreds of gigabytes of network data in a handful of hours."

The AIT LibraryPro system follows Overland's award-winning modular scalability library concept, and was first deployed on Overland's DLTtape(a)-based LibraryXpress(TM), which has won more than 24 editorial awards worldwide, unmatched by any other automated data storage product.

The design of the LibraryPro ensures that growing enterprise storage requirements can easily be met, while also protecting the customer's original library investment. The flexible architecture of the LibraryPro allows customers to start with just a single module. Capacity and performance can then be scaled upward based on individual customer requirements by easily adding LibraryPro modules to create an ultimate multi-terabyte automated storage solution.

The modular design of the LibraryPro ensures total configuration flexibility. Customers can design their own customized storage solution with native system capacity ranging from 665 GB up to 8.55 TB, and performance ranging from 10 GB per hour to over 388 GB per hour, using from one to 18 AIT drives.

A proven solution for enterprise network backup requirements, Knox Software's Arkeia utilizes client-side compression and a unique multi-flow technology to deliver network backup and restore throughput rates that are 200 to 300 percent faster than rival software packages.

Designed for heterogeneous network environments, Arkeia provides network client support for over 30 different hardware-OS configurations, including a recently announced hot backup client for Oracle8i databases running on Linux. The product also provides extensive support for robotic tape libraries and autochangers.

About Knox Software

Noted for its early and comprehensive support for the Linux open source operating system, Knox Software is a leading provider of enterprise network backup solutions. Founded in 1996, the company's mission is to provide fast, reliable, easy-to-use and affordable network backup solutions for heterogeneous networks.

Its flagship product, Arkeia, is used by thousands of ISPs, small companies and large organizations worldwide to protect their data, the most critical organizational asset. Knox Software is privately held and has offices in Carlsbad, Calif., and Paris. For further information about Knox Software, visit Knox's Web site at http://www.arkeia.com.

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 new standards 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 Travan tape drives, and has been licensed to Seagate Technology, Tandberg Data, Imation Corp. and StorageTek.

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

(a) DLTtape is a trademark of Quantum. AIT is a trademark of Sony. Arkeia is a registered trademark.

CONTACT: Overland Data Inc.

            858/571-5555
            World Wide Web: http://www.overlanddata.com
            Product Information:
              Steve Richardson, VP of Marketing
                srichardson@overlanddata.com
            Investor Relations Information:
              Scott McClendon, President & CEO
                smcclendon@overlanddata.com
              Vernon LoForti, CFO
                vloforti@overlanddata.com
                     or
            JPR Communications
            Judy Smith, 818/386-0403
              jprcommun@aol.com
              Home Page: http://www.jprcom.com