ULTERA SYSTEMS ADDS NEW MIDWESTERN INTEGRATOR FOR FULL LINE OF TAPE ARRAY CONTROLLERS

LAGUNA HILLS, Calif., August 9, 1999.... Ultera Systems, the leading tape array controller and tape array system supplier, today announced that it has signed a reseller agreement with Systems & Software Inc. (SSI), a top networking integrator servicing Fortune 500 clients in the Midwest.

St. Louis-based SSI will supply Ultera-based tape array solutions to its customer base, which includes clients such as Boeing Corp., Nordyne and the U.S. Air Force.

"Systems & Software has a long-standing record of excellence in tackling network storage integration," said Fred Bedard, Vice President, Sales and Marketing at Ultera Systems. "Their presence in enterprise network storage and experience in Fortune 500 accounts make them an ideal partner to sell Ultera-based tape solutions."

Don Bostick, founder and CEO of SSI, said that Ultera’s tape array controller technology has not only created a high level of excitement within his company, but also generated several system sales immediately following a recent demonstration at a trade show in St. Louis.

At that trade show, SSI demonstrated an Ultera-based solution using two AIT* drives plus a parity drive. In the demonstration, the single AIT drive achieved backup throughput of 270 megabytes per minute. But when the same system was backed up with an Ultera Striper™ array controller using two AIT drives plus a parity drive, throughput did not double as expected, but more than tripled compared to the standalone drive, said Bostick. To demonstrate the fault tolerance of the Ultera architecture, an operator then deliberately ejected a tape and the backup continued to run uninterrupted at the same high speed.

The trade show demonstration proved so convincing that SSI signed multiple orders for Ultera-based tape solutions, including major deals with Boeing and Nordyne. Nordyne sells products under the Frigidaire*, Tappan* and Intertherm* brands.

"It was a tremendous success. It really showed what the technology is capable of doing," said Bostick. "I just don’t see how people could read one little article on this technology and not call us. We’re pretty excited about Ultera and its products, and we're pushing like crazy. We’ve got a lot of potential for this box and we expect to have a lot of prospects soon join Boeing, Nordyne and others as SSI customers who are supercharging their backup operations with Ultera technology."

SSI 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 SSI
Systems & Software Inc. was founded in 1983 as a supplier of storage components to AT&T and the Bell Operating Companies. The company then expanded into the storage market and prospered in the mid-80's by serving several niche markets for mass storage. Today, SSI is a reseller of a wide variety of networking and workstation products, specializing in the building of custom storage subsystems. Over the years, SSI has grown into a full-fledged integration provider, offering the "Best of Breed" in CISC/RISC workstations and servers, local & wide area networking products, network consulting, after-market peripherals, installation and service. SSI has customers around the world in all types of industries, ranging in size from $10 million to $16 billion in sales.

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.