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                AUSPEX SYSTEMS ANNOUNCES COST-CUTTING MEASURES

Steps Taken to Promote Long-Term Success of the Company's Data Storage Business

SANTA CLARA, CA, NOVEMBER 14, 2001 -- Auspex Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: ASPX), a
provider of enterprise storage solutions, announced today that it will enact a
variety of cost-cutting measures designed to enhance the long-term health of the
company. These include a reduction in workforce of approximately 170 employees
and several structural changes that will streamline processes and eliminate
excess capacity.

The resizing includes departmental staffing adjustments spurred by several
shifts in company procedures. These include a transition to outsourced
manufacturing, increased reliance on Auspex's worldwide support center to
provide customer support functions, and a recent conversion from proprietary
hardware to standard components that do not require dedicated hardware
engineers.

"Auspex's products and reputation for innovation remain strong and continue to
give us confidence in the company's long-term prospects, but dramatic changes in
the storage market as well as the general economic downturn have prompted us to
make adjustments to put our expenses more in line with our revenues," said Mike
Worhach, President of Auspex Systems. "We firmly believe that these changes will
position us for growth and profitability when the market rebounds."

As a result of this action, the Company estimates that operating expenses will
be reduced by approximately $4.5 million per quarter. Auspex estimates that
severance costs and other related expenses are expected to total $3.5 million.
Additionally there may be further charges to earnings this quarter once the full
effects of the resizing have been assessed.

Separately today, the company announced a planned extension of its NS3000 family
of network servers that is designed to move Auspex beyond its origins as the
inventor of Network Attached Storage (NAS). The company plans to expand its
offerings with a series of non-proprietary storage products that will
significantly reduce an enterprise's storage costs through storage
virtualization, central management of heterogeneous enterprise data assets, and
open access to major vendors' storage subsystems including Storage Area Networks
(SANs).

ABOUT AUSPEX SYSTEMS


Auspex introduced the world's first Network Attached Storage (NAS) server
shortly after its founding in 1987, creating a new breed of storage appliance
capable of delivering significant performance and administrative benefits over
general-purpose file servers. Auspex's enterprise-class network servers are used
by customers around the world because of their advanced feature set, including
the industry's highest scalability and most secure UNIX and Windows data
sharing. The company is headquartered in Santa Clara, California, with sales
offices and channel partners throughout the U.S. and around the globe. Its
shares are traded on the Nasdaq under the symbol ASPX. For more information,
call 800-4AUSPEX (800-428-7739) or 408-566-2000, or visit www.auspex.com.

The statements above regarding positioning the company for growth and
profitability, the estimated operating expense reduction and severance costs and
the anticipated expansion of the product line are forward-looking statements
that involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from
those projected in these statements for various reasons, including the
following: The rate of market acceptance of the company's new NS3000 family of
products, the impact of competitive products and pricing, the ability of the
company to reduce its expenses without diminishing its competitive posture,
general economic conditions in Japan, North America and Europe, the impact of
terrorist activities and the U.S. response to any such activities on the markets
served by the company, the company's ability to attract and retain key
personnel, increase market penetration outside of its current customer base,
rapidly evolve the technology and products with the performance, functionality,
and reliability required by its customers, and the ability to leverage alternate
channels of distribution. For additional information on risks and uncertainties,
see the company's public reports filed with the SEC, including the company's
Form 10-K for the 2001 fiscal year and the company's most recent Form 10-Q.

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