BakBone, Qualstar and Vixel Deliver Multivendor-Certified SAN Backup/Restore Bundle for Mid-sized Companies.

Business Editors/Technology Writers

SAN DIEGO & SIMI VALLEY, Calif. & BOTHELL, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 29, 2001--

Storage partners collaborate to maximize data storage benefits,

reduce cost and time to implementation for Solaris users

Three of the data storage industry's leaders today unveiled a first-of-its-kind initiative, delivering a multivendor-certified storage area network (SAN) hardware/software solution bundle to the mid-sized market. The initiative makes it easier than ever for companies to quickly implement and benefit from the mission-critical reliability of networked storage, even at the departmental or workgroup level.

BakBone Software(TM), Inc. (TSE:BKB) (OTC:BKBOF), Qualstar Corporation (Nasdaq:QBAK) and Vixel Corporation (Nasdaq:VIXL) assembled the pre-tested solution bundle to optimize SAN deployments and enable the rapid backup and restore of steadily increasing amounts of corporate-critical data. The turnkey, Solaris-based system, sold through Qualstar's worldwide network of resellers, provides mid-sized customers with proven ease of integration and optimum performance, and offers users a solution that can grow with them as their data storage needs increase.

"The mid-sized market demands a SAN solution that combines simplicity, power and reliability," said Bob Abraham, principal analyst at Freeman Reports. "Many companies have talked about producing a turnkey hardware/software bundle to address this problem. BakBone, Qualstar and Vixel have responded, making it possible for smaller companies to quickly implement a sophisticated storage solution capable of meeting their growing needs and producing a tangible return on their storage investment."

"This SAN bundle will be particularly appealing to customers whose first foray into SAN technology is for backup/restore applications," said Jacob Farmer, chief technologist at Cambridge Computer Services, a storage-centric solution provider based in Boston. "Most people think of SANs as disk storage technology, yet backup/restore is arguably the true killer SAN app. The BakBone-Qualstar-Vixel bundle is the only bundle available for SAN tape backup, meeting the needs of mid-sized businesses today. It eliminates interoperability conflicts, while allowing the full benefits of best of breed SAN technology."

The end-to-end bundle is comprised of:

-- Qualstar's TLS-8466 and TLS-4222 tape libraries. The TLS-8466 contains two
HP(R) Ultrium-1 LTO tape drives, with a total native storage capacity of 6.6TB;
the TLS-4222 library contains two Sony(R) AIT-2 tape drives, yielding a native
capacity of 1.1TB.

-- BakBone's NetVault(TM) (Solaris Workgroup Edition): award-winning,
SAN-native backup/restore software, combining unparalleled power with ease of
use throughout the entire product lifecycle, from installation and operation
through scalability and support.

-- Vixel's 7000 Series Fibre Channel Fabric switches combine standards
compliant interoperability and industry leading performance with the highest
level of scalability of any Fibre Channel Fabric switches.

-- Emulex's LP8000 (and LP8000S) Host Bus Adapters (HBAs).

Partner Comments

"The need for reliable, high-speed backup of critical business information is one of the main factors driving interest in Fibre Channel-based SANs, but concerns about complexity and cost have prevented wide-scale implementation of SANs at small- and mid-sized enterprises, as well as in departments and workgroups at firms of all sizes," said Barry Mattingly, senior director of OEM sales, BakBone Software. "By certifying our software and hardware, BakBone and its partners are delivering a proven, turn-key SAN backup solution that specifically addresses the requirements of this important class of user, providing all of the benefits of storage area networks in a cost-effective, easy to install and manage solution."

"As the leading supplier of storage networking host bus adapters (HBAs), Emulex strives to ensure the broad-based interoperability of its products in solutions that bring mission critical performance to end users," said Mike Smith, executive vice president of Worldwide Marketing at Emulex. "We are pleased that BakBone, Qualstar and Vixel have collaborated to deliver a turnkey solution using our fibre channel host bus adapters that is easy for mid-sized companies to implement in their Unix environments."

"Qualstar is a pioneer in the data storage industry and this partnership with other industry leaders to provide a fully-certified SAN backup solution continues the commitment that we have made to provide simple, reliable solutions to IT professionals," said Bob Covey, vice president of marketing at Qualstar. "By combining our leading SANSmartTM Fibre Channel libraries with other best-of-breed components from our partners, we can offer a backup solution that is fast, scalable and easy to configure."

"Data protection and storage management are of extreme importance to our customers. The exhaustive testing of this product bundle is in line with Vixel's strategy to provide multivendor-certified solutions with exceptional performance and optimum flexibility," said Beth White, vice president of marketing, Vixel Corporation. "Many of today's data-intensive enterprises are looking to Fibre Channel-based LAN-free backup to simplify storage needs and reduce overall LAN traffic. Our combined solutions offer customers the reliability they need for backing up and restoring their most important asset, their data."

This bundle is available for immediate delivery through Qualstar's network of solution providers. For more information about this offering, go to: http://www.vixel.com/solutions/unixbackup.html or call 805/583-7744, or e-mail inquiries to [e-mail].

About BakBone Software, Inc.

BakBone Software(TM) (TSE:BKB) (OTC:BKBOF) is an international storage management software company that develops and globally distributes high-performance storage management solutions to the open systems markets. BakBone's near-line archive and backup/restore software suites provide scalable data protection from the workgroup to the enterprise. Founded in 2000, BakBone Software's products are used by companies worldwide, and are distributed through a network of OEMs and solution providers.

BakBone's corporate headquarters is located at 10145 Pacific Heights Boulevard, San Diego, California 92121. Its stock is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and is included on the TSE 300 Composite, S&P/TSE Canadian SmallCap and TSE 200 indices. For more information on BakBone products, call 866/484-2663, e-mail [e-mail], or access BakBone's web site at www.bakbone.com.

BakBone Safe Harbor Statement

The statements contained in this press release that are not historical in nature are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees since there are inherent difficulties in predicting future results, and actual results could differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements.

About Qualstar Corporation

Qualstar Corporation's TLS-Series Tape Libraries are expressly designed for automated data storage applications including SAN, backup/restore, serverless backup, and image and data archives.

The TLS-Series Tape Library families offer the widest range of capacity and throughput options in the industry: 48 models offer native capacities ranging from 250 gigabyte to over 30 terabytes. Over 36,000 Qualstar tape products have been delivered worldwide through selected OEMs, VARs, and Systems Integrators, each one representing our commitment to quality, reliability, and customer support.

Qualstar Corporation is publicly traded under the symbol QBAK on the NASDAQ Exchange. For more information, visit www.qualstar.com, or call 805/583-7744, or e-mail inquiries to [e-mail].

Qualstar Safe Harbor Statement

Statements in this news release concerning the future business, operating results and financial condition on the company are "forward-looking" statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are based upon management's current expectations and are subject to a number of uncertainties that could cause actual performance and results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could affect the company's actual results include unexpected shortages of critical components, unexpected product design problems, and adverse changes in market demand for tape libraries or Qualstar's products. Further information on these and other potential factors that could affect the company's financial results are included in Qualstar's Form 10-K dated Sept. 28, 2000, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

About Vixel Corporation

Vixel Corporation offers customers real world solutions for storage networking. As a leading provider of Storage Area Network (SAN) solutions, the company's comprehensive portfolio of multivendor-certified solutions, switches, hubs and integrated management software delivers reliable, interoperable solutions to its customers and partners. SAN InSite is Vixel's comprehensive open management software for SANs, providing remote control and diagnostics for Fibre Channel switches, hubs and transceivers from a single console, reducing the administration and overhead of implementing a SAN. Vixel products and technology are used by major system suppliers including Avid Technologies, Compaq, IBM, Lucent, Network Appliance, Sun Microsystems and Unisys. Products are available worldwide through its network of value-added resellers, alliances and OEMs. Vixel is an ISO 9001 certified company.

For more information, visit Vixel's web site at www.vixel.com. Vixel Corporation is headquartered at 11911 North Creek Parkway South, Bothell, Washington 98011 and can be contacted by phone at 425/806-5509 or e-mail at [e-mail].

Vixel Safe Harbor Statement

Except for historical information contained herein, this news release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements. Factors that may cause such a difference include risks affecting performance and market acceptance of Vixel's products, Vixel's ability to meet its quality and performance standards, development of the storage area network, or SAN market, the competitiveness and performance of Vixel's products in the rapidly changing SAN market and the ability of Vixel to meet evolving product standards required by customers and others involved in the distribution channel for SAN products. Further information on the factors and risks that could affect Vixel's business, financial condition and results of operations, are contained in Vixel's Annual Report on Form 10-K, and most recent Form 10Q, which are available at www.sec.gov.