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END OF AN ERA: QUALSTAR QUITS ON NINE-TRACK TAPE DRIVES

For years, it was Hollywood's de facto standard for computing: when movies showed computers, they invariably portrayed huge nine-track tape drives, with reels shuttling back and forth, while flashing lights blinked on and off. In the real world, the technology eventually evolved beyond that, with fewer and fewer companies needing or requiring nine-track technology. And ultimately, only one storage vendor, Qualstar, continued producing products for the nine-track market.

Until now. Qualstar Corporation, a leading global provider of automated tape storage solutions, has announced that it will end production of its nine-track tape drives at the end of this year.

The nine-track format remains the only officially recognized medium for data interchange between disparate systems. Hundreds of millions of reels were recorded over the half-century since the drives were first introduced by IBM, but the emergence of networks gave companies more effective ways to transfer data, accelerating the decline in demand for nine-track tape drives.

"There are still a few companies who utilize nine-track technology in limited roles, primarily outside of the United States," said Bob Covey, Qualstar's vice president of marketing. "What nine-track does, it does very well. But that client base has been shrinking for years, and we could no longer justify our continued support for the format."

Qualstar Corporation played a major role in the development of the nine-track market for PCs over the years, shipping tens of thousands of drives worldwide, and holding several patents for its work in the technology. Like the storage market, the Company has evolved to meet customer demands for more capacity and corporate-critical data protection as their needs grew from megabytes to terabytes. Qualstar has consistently maintained a tradition of innovation, quality and reliability. Its widely-regarded RLS- and TLS-series automated tape libraries today routinely handle backup, archival storage and disaster protection for thousands of organizations, worldwide.

"Formats continually change and corporate requirements constantly grow," said William Gervais, Qualstar president and CEO, who has worked with both nine-track and today's advanced tape technologies during his 30-year career. "But the need for Simply Reliable tape storage products that deliver quality, performance and value will always be with us. That continues to be our mission at Qualstar."

About Qualstar Corporation

Founded in 1984, Qualstar Corporation is a leading manufacturer of automated tape libraries used for backup, archival storage, data protection and storage management applications. Its TLS-Series libraries are well known throughout the world for rugged, Simply Reliable designs yielding years of trouble-free operation. Qualstar Tape Libraries are sold, installed, and supported worldwide by selected Original Equipment Manufacturers, Value Added Resellers, and Systems Integrators. More information is available from Qualstar's Website at www.qualstar.com/, or by phone at 805-583-7744.

Contact: Bob Covey, Qualstar, 805-583-7744, covey@qualstar.com.