Network Appliance Donates File Servers to the Cure Autism Now Foundation; NetApp Filers Assist With High Speed DNA Modeling

Business Wire, June 28, 1999

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 28, 1999--

Network Appliance, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP), a leader in enterprise data management solutions, and the Cure Autism Now Foundation (CAN) have partnered in a program to help genetic researchers worldwide find a cure for autism. Autism, a terrible neurological disorder, affects more than 400,000 people in the U.S., and one child out of every 500 born today.

Network Appliance donated two file server appliances, or "filers," along with installation and support services to CAN in support of the Autism Genetic Resource Exchange (AGRE) Gene Bank.

"Network Appliance is in the business of making products that allow users to share common data with each other," said Patrick Jones, director of systems engineering at Network Appliance. "The AGRE gene bank is an amazing example of how Internet and file serving technologies are literally changing the way medical research is accomplished. Network Appliance is proud to be part of a project that involves the storing of massive amounts of data and making that data available to researchers worldwide in search of a cure for autism."

The filers that Network Appliance is donating to CAN will act as the main storage facility for the AGRE Gene Bank. The AGRE Gene Bank is a collection of (DNA) samples from over 500 families (with multiple) autistic children. These samples are then immortalized and the gene (information) decoded and stored as a digital image on the filers. The raw data will be made available to genetic researchers across the world via the Internet allowing for an unprecedented amount of collaboration between the best scientific minds in the world.

"This gift is the final piece of the project. By ourselves, we were able to find the families, diagnose and recruit them, and preserve their DNA, but now with this tremendous gift, we can take that information and make it truly accessible to as many talented scientists worldwide as possible," stated Jonathan Shestack, Co-founder of CAN. "Network Appliance has turned AGRE from a hope and a dream into a world class scientific resource."

About The CAN Foundation

CAN is a non-profit organization of parents, physicians and researchers, dedicated to promoting and funding research with direct clinical implications for treatment and a cure for autism. CAN believes that early detection, prevention, treatment and eventually a cure for autism are possible. It is only a matter of time, energy, commitment and money. Particularly now, when the explosion in scientific and medical knowledge is leading to important discoveries every day, CAN does not want to let another generation of children slip away. For more information, please visit the CAN website at http://www.canfoundation.org

About Network Appliance

Network Appliance, a veteran in network file serving and caching, has been providing data access solutions since 1992. Major corporations and ISPs, including Lycos, Yahoo!, Citicorp Securities, Siemens, Lockheed, Cisco, Motorola and Texas Instruments have deployed NetApp(R) solutions. NetApp Internet caching solutions (NetCache(TM) and appliances) and file servers ("filers") deliver fast, simple, reliable and cost-effective access to network-stored data and enable simultaneous shared file services for UNIX(R), Windows NT(R) and the World Wide Web.

The company pioneered the concept of the "network appliance," an extension of the industry trend toward dedicated, specialized products that perform a single function. Network Appliance(TM) filers and NetCache appliances are based on the Company's innovative data access software known as Data ONTAP(TM) operating system and standards-compliant hardware. More information is available at http://www.netapp.com.

Note to Editors: NetApp is a registered trademark and Network Appliance, Data ONTAP and NetCache are trademarks of Network Appliance, Inc. All other brands or products are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders and should be treated as such.