SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, January 15, 2001 - BakBone Software (TSE: BKB, OTC: BKBOF), a global provider of storage management software, today announced a new era of ease in the storage of corporate-critical data, with the commercial introduction of the latest version of its NetVault™ software, reinforcing BakBone's leadership position in the backup and restore software market.

The new version, 6.03, features added support for network-attached storage (NAS). It enables users, from workgroups through enterprises, to use the same software across the widest range of data storage topologies, from direct-attached storage to NAS, and ultimately to storage area networks (SANs).

Paul Hansen, senior director of marketing at Network Appliance (NASDAQ: NTAP), said, "The combination of Network Appliance's industry-leading storage solutions and NetVault's diverse storage platform support, provides customers an excellent enterprise data-management strategy."

NetVault 6.03 represents a radical departure from solutions offered by other firms, requiring substantial upgrades and intensive technical support for companies seeking to grow their storage capabilities. It continues BakBone's tradition of offering software that combines powerful performance with unparalleled ease of use. In addition, the software is designed so that it can be installed within minutes or hours, instead of the days or weeks required by competing products.

"NetVault's new version delivers on what the market is demanding," said Michael Karp, Director, Storage Management at the Hurwitz Group. "They need software that can easily manage their constantly growing data backups, and quickly restore that information when it's needed most. They are asking for software that doesn't require a Ph.D. to operate, and enables them to run it regardless of where it's installed. As different topologies such as SANs and NAS come together, those abilities will be crucial. NetVault 6.03 meets those requirements today."

NetVault 6.03 is the result of years of vision and intense work by software engineers worldwide. Their work produced a product that virtualizes storage and is specifically designed to meet the simplicity demanded in today's e-business environment.

"NetVault meets the demands of software connectivity to network-centric SANs," stated Claude Lorenson, Senior Product Manager at Vixel Corporation (NASDAQ: VIXL). "With its added NAS capability, NetVault offers true convergence for SAN/NAS storage management needs, virtualizing the same storage resources across NAS and SAN systems, while maintaining tremendous ease of use. NetVault is an ideal complement to Vixel's interconnect devices for network attached storage. This provides real business-based benefits to our customers," he added.

Most importantly, NetVault is designed to grow with a company's escalating storage needs. A study, conducted exclusively for BakBone Software, found that even small and mid-sized business will need to backup average loads of between one and two terabytes this year. "Those needs will continue to grow, given the escalating demands on business," said Tony Cerqueira, BakBone's Chief Executive Officer. "Companies will be trying to make their backups and restores as easy as possible, and to complete them as quickly as possible. And they won't settle for products that do half the job; they need to be able to make the process work across local area networks, with network-attached storage, and ultimately with SANs. Whatever they choose, the software must be able to respond."

"Our message," Cerqueira continued, "is that these companies need hardware and software that will meet their data storage needs both today and tomorrow. NetVault is that software."

NetVault 6.03 is available in North America and Europe through BakBone's exclusive network of storage-centric channel partners. With its added features, pricing remains the same, beginning at $1,000 for Windows 2000/NT and Linux implementations, and $3,725 for Unix configurations.

About BakBone Software, Inc.

BakBone Software™ (TSE: BKB, OTC: BKBOF) is an international storage management software company that develops and globally distributes industry-leading storage management solutions to the open systems markets, providing data protection and management solutions scalable from workgroup to enterprise that will grow with a company's needs. BakBone's core products include nearline optical and archival, as well as tape backup and restore software for a full suite of storage management solutions to the corporate data center.

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 858-450-9009, e-mail sales@bakbone.com, or access BakBone's web site at www.bakbone.com.

Safe Harbor

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.