SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, January 8, 2001 - BakBone Software (TSE: BKB, OTC: BKBOF), a global provider of storage management software, today announced a new performance standard for tape-based data restores and backups running on IBM Corporation's (NYSE: IBM) Ultrium LTO tape drives, with data being restored from tape at the rate of one gigabyte every 29 seconds.

The benchmarking tests were conducted at BakBone Software's interoperability labs in San Diego. The results, especially the numbers from the restore tests, provide further substantiation of NetVault's position in the marketplace as storage management software that combines leading performance with unparalleled ease of use throughout the entire product lifecycle.

"Ultrium drives, based on LTO technology, are optimized for high capacity and performance with exceptional reliability," said David Walling, Director, LTO Business Line, Storage Technology Division, IBM. "They represent a dramatic improvement in tape's usage and continued viability in today's storage market. With its tests, BakBone clearly demonstrates that NetVault is software capable of combining sheer speed with exceptional ease of use. Ultrium drives running NetVault offer a powerful solution to companies needing to take the next step in storage."

"When you need it, you need it now…or yesterday. That is how IS feels whenever there is a need to restore from tape to disk," said David Hill, Research Director, Storage and Storage Management, Aberdeen Group. "That's what BakBone Software's NetVault backup/restore software and IBM's Ultrium LTO delivers. Three things deliver on that promise: 1) Ultrium tape drives are much faster than previous generations of open systems technology, 2) NetVault gets the maximum performance out of those drives, and 3) compression lets more data be read faster. The result is just what IS ordered - a screaming streaming backup."

Results from the benchmarking tests show that IBM's Ultrium drive, running NetVault in a Solaris environment, backed up a two-gigabyte uncompressible file at an average rate of 14.4 megabytes per second, and restored it even more efficiently, at an average rate of 14.7 megabytes per second. The reported restore rate is 98 per cent of the Ultrium drive's maximum uncompressed throughput rate (native) of 15 megabytes per second.

Running tests in a Windows NT environment, the Ultrium/NetVault combination performed at a higher rate, backing up data with 2.5 to 1 compression from a seven-gigabyte file at a rate of 19 megabytes per second, and restoring it at an astounding rate of 20.7 megabytes per second.

But when NetVault's TurboVault™ shared memory feature was enabled, allowing for further "tuned" data transfers, reported performance skyrocketed. In the Solaris benchmark tests, with data that allowed 2.2 to 1 compression, NetVault transferred the two-gigabyte file at the rate of 27.1 megabytes per second, and was restored at more than 34.1 megabytes per second.

Put another way, the NetVault/Ultrium combination restored data from the tape at a rate that would enable users to recover almost 123 gigabytes an hour, or more than two gigabytes of information every minute.

"We were strongly impressed by the demonstrated reliability and durability of IBM's LTO design during certification testing on NetVault," said Jack Corrao, BakBone's President and Chief Operating Officer. "That durability is particularly impressive, given the market's evolving focus toward products providing both immediate and long-term return on investment. IBM's Ultrium drives, which meet the full 250,000-hour MTBF specification, take storage to a new level. NetVault delivers the power needed to make sure that real-world performance lives up to the promise."

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.