Press Release October 13, 2000

3WARE TO DELIVER RAID STORAGE SOLUTIONS THAT FEATURE MAXTOR HARD DRIVES

Bell Microproducts First to Distribute 3ware/Maxtor RAID Solution to Latin America

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.-October 13, 2000-3ware® Inc., a pioneer of innovative storage solutions, announced today a RAID solution kit for enterprise-class storage systems that feature Maxtor™, high-performance DiamondMax® Plus hard drives. The Ultra ATA/100 Maxtor hard drives will complement 3ware's Escalade™ RAID controller to provide next-generation storage solutions to the global enterprise market.

Bell Microproducts Latin America, Inc. (NASDAQ: BELM), will distribute and integrate the 3ware/Maxtor RAID solution kit to the Latin American market, providing a wide range of RAID solutions for servers and workstation environments. The kit will include 3ware's Escalade™ 6000 Series RAID controllers, the fastest-growing RAID controller board in the industry, and Maxtor's DiamondMax™ Plus 7200 RPM high-capacity IDE disk drives. It will provide a high-performance Ultra ATA RAID alternative to traditional SCSI RAID technologies. The combined 3ware/Maxtor RAID solution satisfies today's Internet-intensive storage requirements to access information on demand and deliver data-rich content 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

"The 3ware/Maxtor RAID solution is an ideal Ultra ATA combination for performance and capacity in enterprise environments," said Mike Cordano, vice president of worldwide sales at Maxtor. "We continue to see increased interest in our DiamondMax Plus drives from enterprise- class customers due to the advantages of our drive capacity and IDE's cost and simplicity. ATA solutions also satisfy today's demand for around-the-clock accessibility to data and can take advantage of new economies of scale."

"3ware provides a key component in our global initiative to deliver best-in-class storage solutions to meet the explosive data demands of the Internet economy," said Louis Leonardo, president of Bell Microproducts Latin America. "In tests against other RAID controllers, 3ware was the clear winner. The combination of Maxtor technologies and 3ware scalable, high-performance controllers delivers ATA RAID storage at a fraction of the cost of SCSI RAID."

"The vision to steer IDE drives into new classes of commercial applications is realized with the 3ware/Maxtor RAID solution kit," said Beau Vrolyk, president and CEO, 3ware. "By partnering with 3ware, system builders and integrators now have high performance and reliable RAID solutions. 3ware is please to have such a prestigious partner as Bell Microproducts Latin America join the effort to bring IDE RAID to the market."

The aggregation of 3ware's patented, packet-switching architecture for storage with RAID configurations, called DiskSwitch™, and Maxtor's leading DiamondMax Plus family of hard drives offers a comprehensive storage solution that supports a wide range of Internet-heavy traffic applications. These applications include video streaming, music, and digital imaging, as well as Web and file serving. Using the 3ware/Maxtor RAID solution, Bell Microproducts Latin America can offer its customers the latest technological advances by increasing reliability and performance and reducing overall storage cost. The 3ware/Maxtor RAID solution will be available to leading integrators and distributors beginning October 13, 2000.

About Bell Microproducts Latin America

Bell Microproducts Latin America is a leader in computer hardware distribution to Latin America. The company's offering includes storage products by Maxtor, Quantum and Seagate; processors by AMD; printers by Canon; optical products by NEC, Delta, Pioneer, Sony and Acer; peripherals by PC Partner, Gigabyte, Excel, Microstar, Chaintech, Microtek and Creative Labs; software by Microsoft; and Enterprise Products by eSoft, Overland, Gadzoox, QLogic, Sun Microsystems, BellStor, Trademark, CNet, Tekram, 3ware and Adaptec. The company also has a private label, MarkVision, for monitors 14" through 21" and memory modules. Bell Microproducts Latin America has facilities for memory modules assembly with 2 operational SMT lines and production output of 120K modules per month. Bell Microproducts Latin America operated as Future Tech from 1989 through July 21, 1999 when Bell Microproducts acquired it.

It opened its Chilean subsidiary in Santiago in September 1999, as well as sales offices in Buenos Aires and Sao Paulo in October 1999. In November 1999, it regained its position as the #1 storage distributor with 170,000 drives sold - over 45% of market share. Its name was changed to Bell Microproducts Latin America in February 2000.

About Bell Microproducts

Bell Microproducts is a value-added provider of a wide range of high technology products, solutions, and services to the industrial and commercial marketplace. The company's offering includes semiconductors, computer platforms, peripherals, and storage products of various types including desktop, high-end computer and storage subsystems, fibre channel connectivity products, RAID, NAS and SAN storage systems and back-up products. Bell Microproducts is an industry-recognized specialist in storage products and is one of the world's largest storage-centric value-added distributors. The company's products are available at any level of integration from components, to subsystem assemblies, to fully integrated, tested and certified system solutions. The company adds value with a broad range of services including testing, software loading, kitting, mass storage system integration, and computer system integration. Trained and certified technical personnel complete each of these processes at Bell Microproducts' ISO 9002 facilities. Bell Microproducts markets and distributes more than 100 brand name product lines, as well as its own BellStor storage and Trademark computer brands, to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), contract electronic manufacturing services (EMS) customers, value-added resellers (VARs) and system integrators in the Americas and Europe. More information can be found in SEC filings, or by visiting the Bell Microproducts Web site atwww.bellmicro.com.

About Maxtor

Maxtor Corporation is a leading supplier of information storage solutions. The company's current hard disk drive products include the award-winning DiamondMax and DiamondMax Plus line of products for mainstream and high-performance personal computers and consumer electronics applications, as well as the DiamondMax VL line for entry-level PCs. Maxtor also offers the new MaxAttach™ family of network-attached storage servers.

Maxtor's leadership position has been built by consistently providing leadership products, and by delivering high levels of quality and support for its customers. More information about Maxtor and its products can be found at www.maxtor.com or by calling toll-free (800) 2-MAXTOR. Maxtor is traded on NASDAQ under the MXTR symbol.

About 3ware

3ware is a company that creates innovative storage solutions specifically designed to meet the needs of Internet applications. 3ware leverages proprietary algorithms and packet-switching technology, delivered in the company's DiskSwitch-based product, to create scalable and reliable high-speed storage solutions. 3ware solutions address the fundamental issues of data storage, access, back up, security, and management - without requiring that customers adopt new standards or deal with unfamiliar technologies. Located in Mountain View, California, the company has a seasoned management team and a roster of established industry partners. For more information about 3ware, call (650) 327-8600 or visit www.3ware.com.3ware.com.