LAGUNA HILLS, Calif., January 26, 2000 - Ultera Systems, the leading tape array controller and tape array system supplier, today announced that it has signed an agreement with e-DataGroup Pty Ltd. e-DataGroup will bring Ultera’s products to market through its distribution company Digital Tape Solutions (DTS), the leading distributor of tape drives and autoloader/library systems in Australia.

Sydney-based DTS will supply its resellers with the full line of Ultera tape array solutions, along with products from other leading data storage manufacturers, including Quantum, Tandberg Data, Benchmark, Overland, Exabyte and Ecrix.

"DTS has long been a premier source in Australia for drives and automated solutions since introducing DLT* backup technology to the country in 1995," said Fred Bedard, Vice President, Sales and Marketing at Ultera Systems. "DTS provides the channel with the best pre- and post-sales support, and their position in Australia makes them an ideal partner to distribute Ultera-based tape array solutions."

Garry Humphreys, CEO of e-DataGroup, said that Ultera’s tape array controller technology is a natural fit with DTS’ tape storage offerings. "We see great benefits in working with Ultera, and their products instantly created a high level of excitement within our company. We know the value and significant opportunity Ultera’s product line will bring to our resellers and to the Australian market."

Ultera Systems provides unprecedented tape performance with its innovative line of tape array controllers. Ultera controllers can be configured for RAID-1 operation, mirroring data to a pair of drives, or RAID-3 with data and parity information striped across a set of two or four drives. This configuration offers fault-tolerance, allowing tape backup operations to continue even in the event of a drive or media failure, as well as the fastest available performance by utilizing the cumulative bandwidth of all attached tape drives. An optional parity drive can be added to maximize reliability of the tape array.

DTS is handling the entire Ultera tape controller line, including:

Striper™ Series: high-end tape array controller that stripes data across up to five independent parallel array channels allowing for fast – up to 40 MB/sec. – flexible and highly reliable data protection.

LibraryMaster™ Series: extends the tape array paradigm to the library level, creating an array of multi-drive libraries utilizing Ultera’s third-generation Tape RAID technology to provide the highest tape performance, backup/restore automation and fault-tolerant data protection while complementing existing tape technologies.

Imager™ Series: allows simultaneous creation of up to five identical backup tapes in real time with no additional system overhead or software changes necessary.

Shadow Master™ Series: provides real-time data mirroring across multiple tape loaders and libraries for the ultimate in data reliability and disaster recovery.

About e-DataGroup
Recently formed e-DataGroup is the parent company and management team that provides the vision, financial management and marketing services for each of its subsidiaries. e-DataGroup is 100% Australian owned and operated and continues to source and supply innovative storage solutions for the Australian marketplace.

e-DataGroup’s distribution channel is Digital Tape Solutions. For more information on e-DataGroup contact Garry Humphreys +61 2 9882 1141 or email garry@e-datagroup.com.au or visit www.e-datagroup.com.au.

About DTS
Digital Tape Solutions Pty Ltd. is the leading specialist distributor of DLTtape* drives and autoloader/library systems in Australia. Helping organizations protect their most valuable asset, DTS’s products and services ensure reliable, high speed backup and recovery of information and its data. Founded in 1995, DTS works exclusively through reseller channels and offers its customers the best product supply and technical support possible on high-performance backup and other magnetic data storage solutions. Contact DTS at its Sydney Head Office, telephone 61.2.9888.3488, fax 61.2.9888.3400, or email dltinfo@dlt.com.au for general Information, victork@dlt.com.au for sales. Visit DTS on the Web at www.dlt.com.au.

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 "Shadow Master," and sold through OEMs, VARs, and Systems Integrators 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.