Rorke Data Announces Its Strategic Acquisition By Bell Microproducts
Rorke Data to leverage Bell Micro's broad product range and purchasing power in vertical markets throughout the U.S. and Europe

Eden Prairie, MN, February 21, 2000 — Rorke Data, Inc. is in receipt of a letter of intent from Bell Microproducts, Inc. (NASDAQ: BELM) for the strategic acquisition of its data storage and systems business in both the U.S. and Europe. Rorke Data is a privately held company with 135 employees worldwide, providing leading-edge Fibre Channel and SAN storage solutions to vertical markets such as digital video, publishing, and medical imaging throughout the U.S. and Europe. 

Herb Rorke, President and CEO of Rorke Data, made the acquisition announcement. "Rorke Data is very excited about our future growth potential in working with Bell and in being part of such a strong and dynamic organization," said Rorke. "The acquisition is strategic for both companies. Rorke's industry knowledge, customer relationships, and technical expertise in storage solutions, combined with Bell's purchasing power and distribution capabilities, creates a complementary strategy for growth in value-added products and services."

Don Bell, President and CEO of Bell Microproducts, concurred. "We are pleased with Rorke's reputation and their ability to leverage OEM endorsements for their storage solutions throughout vertical markets in the U.S. and Europe. Rorke Data's strategy is in alignment with Bell's vision to grow products and services that offer higher profitability." Bell added, "The Rorke acquisition also gives Bell a strong foothold in the European storage market."

Joe Rorke, Rorke's VP of Marketing, noted that Rorke had experienced a previous major restructuring in late 1999. "Our digital content and web infrastructure software division, FLEXSTOR.net, was spun-off as a separate company last year," said Rorke. "The new company, FLEXSTOR.net, Inc., is a separate entity and is not part of the Bell Micro acquisition. However, Rorke Data will continue to provide a variety of software solutions that complement our storage solutions for vertical markets, including reselling the FLEXSTOR.db product."

About Rorke Data, Inc.

Rorke Data is a full digital storage solutions provider with expertise in SAN connectivity, FC RAID, high-performance tape and optical libraries, UNIX, NT, and MAC environments, high-bandwidth networks, and engineering and maintenance services.

Founded in 1985, Rorke Data is a privately held Minnesota corporation. Together with its European subsidiary, Rorke Data Europe, located in Emmen, The Netherlands, the company is composed of five divisions: Audio/Video, Digital Publishing, Medical Imaging, Digital Media Supplies, and Engineering and Maintenance Services. Rorke Data has 135 employees, 85 located in Minnesota, 50 in the Netherlands. More information about Rorke Data can be found at www.rorke.com.

About Bell Microproducts Inc.

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 to high-end devices and subsystems to fibre channel connectivity products and SAN and back-up products.

Bell Microproducts is an industry-recognized specialist in storage products. All these 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), value-added resellers (VARs) and system integrators in the Americas. More information can be found in SEC filings, by contacting Bell Microproducts directly, or on the Web at www.bellmicro.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

This news release contains projections or other forward-looking statements regarding future events and the future financial performance of Bell Microproducts and of Rorke Data. We wish to caution you that such statements are just predictions, and that actual events or results may differ materially. Important factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from our projections include the company's ability to integrate Rorke Data and those factors identified in Bell Micro's most recent form 10-K and form 10-Q, as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

From Rorke Data, Inc., 7626 Golden Triangle Drive, Eden Prairie, MN 55344; 1-800-328-8147 or 612/829-0300; fax: 612/829-0988; web site: www.rorke.com.

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