Overland Storage Continues to Gain Worldwide Momentum With One of the Industry's Largest Product Deployment Footprints

SAN DIEGO, CA--(Marketwire - May 4, 2011) - Overland Storage (NASDAQ: OVRL), the trusted global provider of effortless data management and data protection solutions across the data lifecycle, today announced that the company has shipped more than 400,000 units. Customers include Fortune 1000 companies and organizations across sectors including government, education and healthcare. In addition, the company has 2000 channel partners across 60 countries around the globe. As a result of the company's refocused strategic corporate vision and with the support of Overland channel partners worldwide, the company has experienced a doubling of sales across its SnapServer, SnapSAN and NEO product lines.

"Two years ago we began transforming Overland into a branded products and service company. Overland's branded sales growth and the broadening of our channel partner network are showing that the transition is progressing, and we are very pleased with the advancements toward our objectives," said Eric Kelly, CEO at Overland Storage.

New Disk and Tape Solutions Contribute to Sales Growth
In 2010, Overland introduced three new disk-based solutions: SnapServer N2000, a block-and-file-level NAS or SAN package aimed at virtualized environments; SnapSAN S2000, a feature rich, resource-efficient iSCSI SAN platform for businesses with growing data and SnapSAN S1000, a 2U 12-drive modular SAN solution that delivers highly available storage services for business critical applications that require superior performance. Sales of these new products in 2010 helped double Overland's revenue of disk-based products. Overland also introduced the NEO 8000e, the company's fastest and highest capacity tape library solution specifically designed for large, data intensive businesses.

Neumont University, a four-year university based in Utah, uses Overland disk and tape products to support the next generation of computer scientists, technology managers, software and game developers, web designers and developers. "We are currently using the SnapServer N2000 and the NEO 200S from Overland for disk to disk to tape backup of all our data. Both products play a huge role in our IT environment -- their importance to the University is paramount," said Matt Jorgenson, systems administrator at Neumont University. "With the Overland solutions we have been able to reduce our backup time by a quarter. Our biggest decision maker for purchasing the Overland solutions was price point. Overland was consistently well priced against other products we considered."

Wyke Farm, the UK's largest independent cheese producer and milk processor, uses Overland disk-based storage solutions to help protect their headquarters, including manufacturing and packaging plants. "We are currently using SnapServer NAS storage from Overland to store and manage all data generated from twenty high-definition CCTV cameras. Security at the factory is vital and Overland plays an important role in protecting our facility," said Pete Hooper, IT and production manager at Somerset cheese producer Wyke Farms. "We were recently burgled and the thieves got away with a substantial amount of expensive servers containing important data. Utilizing the Overland solution we quickly recovered the correct files, which led to the police arresting two men. Our biggest deciding factor in purchasing the Overland Storage solution was initially price point, but now that it's deployed we have come to appreciate the features and ease of use."

Recently, the storage industry has experienced a trend suggesting a resurgence of interest in tape storage as new advances in tape drive and cartridge technology have amplified tape's already strong ability to handle rampant data growth. Technological advances in tape plus the increasing recognition that even de-duplicated disk-based solutions cannot cost-effectively store and quickly retrieve massive amounts of data over the long term are serving as driving forces behind the market's renewed focus on tape storage at a time when IT budgets are under massive pressure.

"Tape continues to be a preferred medium for long-term archiving of offline data," said Benjamin S. Woo, program vice president, worldwide storage systems at IDC. "The cost-effectiveness of tape for long-term, offline storage still outweighs that of disk; particularly in light of technologies such as LTO-5, which has doubled the speed and capacity of tape, especially as tape storage requires less power and management than disk. Over time, the total cost of ownership of tape remains more favorable than disk."

Commitment to the Channel Leads to Channel Partner Network Growth
Since its inception, Overland's branded sales model has been 100% channel-focused and the company reinforced its commitment to the channel in 2010 with an enhanced partner program that is specifically designed to increase revenue opportunities and profitability for worldwide channel partners. Overland's FastTrack program gives channel partners exclusive access to:

• "Channel only" exclusive end user promotions to increase business
• A web-based, automated deal registration program that offers partners protected margins on sales
• Lead generation programs and customizable partner promotional materials
• Quarterly business development funds and joint marketing programs
• Personalized offline and online resources
• Dedicated Overland sales and marketing support

"Overland's SnapServer products are ideal for customers looking to manage data growth and hardware costs, allowing us to provide a robust storage solution backed by excellent customer service," said Rob Bone, senior sales executive at XS International, an Overland Storage partner. "We enjoy working with Overland because of their very channel-friendly approach and look forward to continuing our relationship with the company." Added Dean Sarris, owner of RDT Solutions, an Overland Storage partner, "Our customers have come to rely on Overland NEO, REO and SnapServer solutions because they are reliable, solid performers that provide an ideal mix of features to ensure data remains managed and accessible at all times. As a partner since 2003, we look forward to continuing to build our business with Overland."

Brett Edgecombe, sales director at 101 Data Solutions, a UK-based Overland partner, said: "Our objective is to help customers align their business operations with the right technology, while eliminating risk. Working with companies across most industries and of all sizes, we find with its unique features and its combination of storage technologies, Overland Storage data protection products allows us to offer our customers additional capabilities and strengthen our storage offerings."

In February 2011, Jillian Mansolf, vice president of global sales and marketing for Overland Storage, was named a 2011 CRN Channel Chief. As leaders in creating effective channel programs for solution providers, Channel Chiefs consistently defend, promote and execute effective channel partner programs and strategies.

"For the past several years we have been focused on making significant strides to better support our channel partners. By expanding our partner network, enhancing our channel program and improving lead generation, we are enabling channel partners to increase revenue opportunities and become trusted advisors to their customers," said Mansolf. "Beyond innovative solutions that truly speak to market needs, Overland will continue to develop programs and resources that enable partners to rapidly grow their businesses with us."

Technology Acquisition Furthers Future Innovation
In October 2010, Overland announced the strategic acquisition of certain assets of MaxiScale, a technology leader in scalable file serving and storage.

According to Steve Duplessie, founder and senior analyst at Enterprise Strategy Group, an independent industry analyst firm, "Overland scored with this deal -- MaxiScale had some awesome technology. I'm glad it will finally be able to see the light of day."

MaxiScale's technology, which is currently being integrated into Overland's file storage portfolio, provides cloud-scale storage capabilities that reduce capital and operational costs while improving performance and eliminating the need for forklift upgrades. MaxiScale's platform addresses the data storage issues faced by companies with unpredictable and rapidly expanding data storage requirements by bridging the gap between traditional disk storage and cloud storage solutions, enabling data storage infrastructures to scale to massive capacities while maintaining reliability and a high performance end user experience. MaxiScale's architecture can provide Overland customers with the ability to scale hundreds of SnapServers into one unified pool of storage.

About Overland Storage
Overland Storage is a trusted global provider of effortless data management and data protection solutions across the data lifecycle. By providing an integrated range of technologies and services for primary, nearline, offline, archival, and cloud data storage, Overland makes it easy and cost effective to manage different tiers of information over time. Whether distributed data is across the hall or across the globe, Overland enables companies to focus on building their business instead of worrying about data growth. Overland SnapServer^®, SnapSAN^®, NEO^® and REO^® solutions are available through a select network of value added resellers and system integrators. For more information, visit www.overlandstorage.com.

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Overland Storage, SnapServer, SnapSAN, NEO, REO and the Overland logo are trademarks Overland Storage, Inc., that may be registered in some jurisdictions. All other trademarks used are owned by their respective owners.