LAGUNA HILLS, Calif.,…February 23, 2000 – UItera Systems, the leading tape array controller and tape array system supplier, today announced another move, immediately positioning the company in the DVD marketplace. Ultera has signed an agreement with Optical Laser Inc. as its national distributor for the company’s new DVD-R MultiMaster™, the most versatile DVD mastering solution available for short-run DVD duplication.

Ultera’s DVD-R array controller allows up to 12 SCSI-based DVD-R drives to be connected to a single host, creating 12 DVD copies in the time it usually takes to record just one, making the UItera DVD-R MultiMaster the most economical solution to create multiple DVD audio, video or data disks.

Optical Laser is a leading nationwide distributor of digital video, mass storage and document imaging solutions, and under terms of the new distribution deal, will offer the Ultera DVD-R MultiMaster, along with Pioneer DVD-R drives and mastering software, to its extensive network of VARs nationwide. The agreement with Optical Laser is Ultera’s first with a national distributor for the DVD-R MultiMaster product line.

The rapid maturation of the DVD market with accompanying price decreases in recordable DVD drives is expected to accelerate the market transformation from recordable CD technology to DVD in the year 2000. DVD-R's relatively low cost per megabyte, coupled with its physical storage efficiency -- approximately six times the capacity of CD-ROM -- and the portability of its recording equipment makes the medium applicable to a large variety of uses in virtually all industries in three key applications areas: testing and development of DVD masters before they are sent out for mass duplication, small-scale distribution of DVD content, and archival data storage similar to CD-R.

"DVD technology has already been established as the fastest-growing consumer electronics technology ever and the DVD-R market is poised for the same kind of explosion next year," said Fred Bedard, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at UItera. "With partners such as Optical Laser and Pioneer, UItera is extremely well-positioned to play a key role in fulfilling the potential of DVD-R technology."

"Optical Laser has always been guided by the goal of growing our clients' business by providing leading-edge solutions, and Ultera’s innovative DVD-R MultiMaster certainly fits that profile," said Arsenio Batoy, Vice President of Sales at Optical Laser. "This is a cornerstone product that will make DVD-R technology as ubiquitous as CD-R."

Ultera’s DVD-R MultiMaster delivers plug-and-play compatibility with all major OS platforms, including Windows 95/98/NT, Mac OS, UNIX and Linux. It works seamlessly with all major DVD mastering software, including Daikin’s Scenarist* and DVD Rep* from Prassi Software, without the need for any special drivers.

Ultera’s DVD-R MultiMaster array controller requires only a single SCSI ID to drive up to 12 DVD-R drives, each at the maximum data transfer rate of 1.2 MB per second. The controller synchronizes the duplication process to multiple drives with no performance degradation. Ultera’s innovative design features comprehensive monitoring and diagnostics that isolate a suspect drive, cable or array channel interface and automatically disables the affected array channel until the repair is made while all other drives on the array continue to operate unimpeded at full speed.

About Optical Laser
Optical Laser is a full-service distributor of digital video, mass storage, and document imaging solutions. Founded in 1988, Optical Laser was ranked as one of the Inc. 500 fastest growing private companies in America, in 1995, 1996, and 1997. With its headquarters and main distribution center in Huntington Beach, CA, along with an East Coast area office in Alexandria, VA, and warehouse facility in Baltimore, MD, Optical Laser serves its clients nationwide. Optical Laser provides value to its VAR clients by offering technical consulting, competitive prices, flexible financing, rapid delivery, and post-sales support. For more information, along with a complete listing of vendors and products carried, visit their web site at www.opticallaser.com.

About Ultera Systems
Ultera Systems, Inc. is the leading manufacturer of RAID Tape Array controllers and subsystems designed for high-speed backup, archive and high-speed data acquisition applications. All industry standard tape drives, tape libraries and storage management software are compatible with the Ultera Arrays. Its tape array product lines are marketed under the trade names "Striper," "Imager," "LibraryMaster" and "ShadowMaster," and sold through OEMs, VARs and Systems Integrators worldwide. Not new to the optical arena, Ultera has deployed its advanced controller technology in optical storage applications for years, in thousands of installations worldwide. Ultera is based in Laguna Hills, Calif.

For further information, call (949) 367-8800, email inform@ultera.com or visit Ultera's web site at http://www.ultera.com.