Andrew Tridgell, Jeremy Allison and Others Bring Expertise to VA Linux NAS team

Samba Leaders Join VA Linux NAS Team

Andrew Tridgell, Jeremy Allison and Others Bring Expertise in Open Source NAS for Heterogeneous Environments

FREMONT, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 17, 2001--VA Linux Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq:LNUX) today announced the expansion of the VA Linux NAS team with the addition of Andrew Tridgell and Jeremy Allison, the leaders of the Samba team, as well as other key Open Source developers.

The VA Linux NAS development team also includes the developers of VA NetAttach software (VANA), led by Alex T. Win, who joined the company last year with VA's acquisition of NetAttach, Inc.

The newly expanded VA Linux NAS team offers leading expertise in interoperability and manageability in NAS appliances.

Samba: The Glue for a Heterogeneous World

Samba is a popular, highly acclaimed Windows(R)-compatible file and print server for UNIX(R) used in corporate networks worldwide. VA Linux NAS appliances, including the 9450 NAS announced today, make it easy for IT managers to take advantage of the interoperability enabled by both Samba and Linux(R).

Andrew Tridgell, Ph.D., one the world's leading Linux developers, is the original author of Samba. Andrew joined the VA Linux NAS team in March 2001, bringing more than ten years of experience in integrating Windows and UNIX systems. Considered one of the world's leading authorities on the CIFS/SMB protocol, Andrew is also the inventor of the rsync algorithm for efficient file transfer and the author of several significant benchmarking tools used by the Linux kernel development team.

Jeremy Allison, co-lead of the Samba Team, was recently featured on the cover of LinuxUser magazine (April 2001). Jeremy moved to the VA Linux NAS team from VA Linux Professional Services, which he joined in November 1999. Jeremy's work on the Samba Team includes release engineering, coordination of worldwide Samba development efforts and serving as a liaison to companies using Samba code commercially. With an extensive background in UNIX and Windows NT systems, Jeremy has previously worked at companies such as SGI, Whistle Communications, Cygnus, Vantive and Sun.

Also newly joining the VA Linux NAS team are Martin Pool (rsync, rproxy, GNU Keyring for PalmOS and the Apache-Java Project) and others. Gerald Carter, author of "Teach Yourself Samba in 24 Hours" (SAMS), will also collaborate with the VA Linux NAS team as a VA Linux Professional Services engineer, bringing expertise in LDAP integration and NT domain support.

VANA Software Team: Enabling Advanced Storage Management

VA NetAttach software makes VA Linux NAS appliances easy to install, manage and expand, with advanced storage management capabilities such as Snapshot, Logical Volume Manager, SNMP support, Ext3 journaling file system, OpenNDMP and Global Status Monitor.

Alex T. Win manages the storage system software group at VA Linux, where he also serves as co-maintainer of the SourceForge(TM) Storage Foundry (http://storage.sourceforge.net) and co-developer of OpenNDMP. Alex was co-founder at NetAttach, Inc., which was acquired by VA Linux last year. Previously, Alex spent ten years writing SCSI and RAID device drivers and heading various projects, including software RAID, multimedia tutorials, and Java-based storage management at UltraStor, BusLogic and Mylex.

Other expert developers on the VANA software team include Wei Gao, Jay Weber and many others. Ted Ts'o, principal engineer at VA Linux and core member of the Linux kernel development team since 1991, also collaborates with the VA Linux NAS team, bringing his expertise as author of the Ext2 and Ext3 file system tools.

"We're very pleased that we've built such a strong development team around VA Linux NAS," said Dr. Larry M. Augustin, CEO of VA Linux Systems. "By working closely with the Samba and VANA teams, and developing solid, reliable NAS appliances, we've made it very easy to use Samba in heterogeneous corporate networks."

Additional information on VA Linux NAS appliances, including the new 9450 NAS, is available at http://www.valinux.com/storage/.

Further information on Open Source storage software development is available from the SourceForge Storage Foundry at http://storage.sourceforge.net/.

About VA Linux Systems

VA Linux Systems is the world's Linux leader. The expert provider of Linux and Open Source solutions for the Web, VA Linux offers a single point of contact for Linux servers and network-attached storage appliances, as well as professional consulting services and support. VA Linux Systems' mission is to make its customers successful through the use of Linux and Open Source software in Internet infrastructure and enterprise-level collaborative software development. As part of its commitment to expanding the Open Source community, VA Linux Systems operates the Open Source Development Network (OSDN). A network of the leading Internet sites for Open Source development, distribution and discussion, OSDN includes SourceForge.net, freshmeat.net, Slashdot, ThinkGeek and Linux.com. Founded in 1993 and headquartered in Fremont, California, with offices across North America, Europe and Japan, VA Linux is located on the Web at www.valinux.com.

Certain statements in this press release, including statements relating to the VA Linux NAS team and product benefits, are forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause results to be materially different from expectations. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, contingencies specific to individual customer deployments and use; VA Linux's ability to attract and retain qualified personnel to perform ongoing development and support for its product and service offerings; competition with, and pricing pressures from, larger, more established companies and smaller, general purpose manufacturers; the direction and effectiveness of VA Linux's ongoing restructuring; the company's ability to enter and compete in new markets; industry and development trends related to network-attached storage, Linux and Open Source software development; and other risks detailed in VA Linux's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, copies of which may be accessed through the SEC's web site at www.sec.gov.

Note: VA Linux Systems and SourceForge are trademarks of VA Linux Systems, Inc. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. All other trademarks and product names are property of their respective owners.