Network Appliance and Intelliguard Software Announce Optimized Version of Network Backup Standard

ATLANTA -- September 16, 1997 -- (Disaster Recovery Trade Show) - Intelliguard Software, formerly PDC Software, and Network Appliance, two data management solution leaders, today announced the second generation of the Network Data Management Protocol (NDMP), an industry standard developed a year ago to help vendors develop interoperable tools for managing data located on networked servers. NDMP v.2 adds remote backup to existing standards for intelligently guarding critical data using any combination of compliant networked servers, backup devices and management applications.

The new version addresses the growing corporate need for distributed control of enterprise-wide networked data management regardless of physical location. With NDMP v.2, any NDMP client can be backed up remotely to another NDMP system with a backup device, enabling multiple data servers to be easily backed up to a single large data repository.

"By supporting remote backup, NDMP facilitates data management in distributed networks and gives network managers added control in managing data throughout the entire enterprise," said Glenn Gabriel Ben-Yosef, president, Clear Thinking Research, Inc., a Boston-based market research and consulting firm. "The new version will enable vendors to provide solutions for safeguarding data regardless of location - an essential benefit to all users who run their businesses on networks."

NDMP was created to address issues associated with managing and backing up networked servers. Network-attached storage, in which data objects are stored and retrieved using dedicated high-speed servers, is quickly gaining market acceptance. But before NDMP, data management software vendors had to port their software to many server platforms and networked storage devices, a time-consuming process.

With the NDMP approach, each NDMP-compliant network server comes standard with a "universal agent," which can be used by any NDMP-compliant backup application. NDMP ensures interoperability between different servers and backup platforms, significantly simplifying the data management process.

The second release of NDMP, jointly developed by Intelliguard Software and Network Appliance, has been submitted to the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and is currently open for review and discussion. The protocol specification is now available on the NDMP public Web site at http://www.ndmp.org A Software Developers Kit (SDK) with source code implementation of NDMP has been created and is available through the website.

The NDMP standards initiative is supported by more than 35 strategic vendors. The Network Data Management effort is open to the entire hardware, software, OEM, internetworking and user community.

About Intelliguard Software
Intelliguard Software, formerly PDC Software, is a leading provider of standards-based UNIX and Windows NT enterprise-class storage management solutions for business-critical networks. The Company is the developer of the powerful BudTool family of efficient, reliable and scaleable storage management software. BudTool is a network management tool that backs up data in a non-proprietary format using industry-standard UNIX utilities. The Company has a world wide presence in more than 30 countries, with over 5,000 sites and 250,000 users. Product information is available on the Internet at www.iguard.com.

About Network Appliance
Network Appliance develops and markets file servers known as filers that deliver shared file service for UNIX, Windows and the World Wide Web. These devices deliver fast, simple, reliable, and cost-effective access to data stored in the network. The Company pioneered the concept of the "network appliance," an extension of the industry trend toward dedicated, specialized products that perform a single function. Network Appliance filers are based on the Company's innovative data access software known as Data ONTAP and standards-compliant hardware. More information is available on the Internet at www.netapp.com.