Sunnyvale, CA - September 6, 2005 - Network Appliance, Inc. (NASDAQ: NTAP) today announced that it has maintained its position as market leader in iSCSI, grown its capacity market share lead in network-attached storage (NAS), and grown the fastest among vendors tracked in the Fibre Channel (FC) storage area network (SAN) arena. According to IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Disk Storage Systems Tracker Q2 2005, NetApp demonstrated continued leadership in its core NAS market, with a 44.6% capacity share, up almost three (3) percentage points over Q1. NetApp also maintained its strong lead in the iSCSI storage market, with number-one share positions in capacity shipped (45.2%), revenue (41.6%), and units (36%). NetApp was also the fastest growing of the vendors tracked in iSCSI revenue, with a year-over-year growth rate of 120.9%. Finally, of the vendors tracked, NetApp posted the strongest year-over-year increase in FC SAN revenue, with a growth rate of 130.2%.

"Customers are clearly recognizing the advantages NetApp offers in terms of simplicity and ease of data management," said Patrick Rogers, vice president of Products and Partners at Network Appliance. "IDC's market share figures demonstrate that our marketing and sales efforts are working and that customers are moving to NetApp for a variety of enterprise storage needs. We think the figures speak not only to leadership in our products and technology, but also to the unique value we bring to customers as they navigate the best approaches to their data challenges. With unmatched simplicity and a passion for applying innovation to real-world problems, NetApp really stands out."

About Network Appliance
Network Appliance is a world leader in unified storage solutions for today's data-intensive enterprise. Since its inception in 1992, Network Appliance has delivered technology, product, and partner firsts that simplify data management. Information about Network Appliance™ solutions and services is available at www.netapp.com.

"Safe Harbor" Statement under U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements include market and market share trends that benefit the Company, continued customer acceptance and adoption rates of the Company's solutions. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, and actual results could vary. Factors that could impact our ability to achieve our goals include general economic and industry conditions, including expenditure trends for storage-related products; our ability to deliver new product architectures and products that meet market acceptance; our ability to design products that compete effectively from a price and performance perspective; and other important factors as described in Network Appliance, Inc.'s reports and documents filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our most recently submitted 10-K and 10-Q.

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Jodi Baumann
Network Appliance
(408) 822-3974
Jodi.Baumann@netapp.com

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