***Text Omitted and Filed Separately with the Commission
Confidential Treatment Requested
Under 17 C.F.R. Sec. 200.80(b)(4),
200.83 and 240.24b-2



Silicon Valley Bank

Third Modification Agreement

Borrower:   Exabyte Corporation
Address:     1685 38th Street
                   Boulder, Colorado 80301
Date:           April 17, 2003









1.     Capitalized Terms. Capitalized terms used but not defined herein shall have the meanings set forth in the Loan Agreement.

2.     Advances in Excess of Credit Limit. Silicon agrees to advance sums in excess of the Credit Limit provided that the total Loans outstanding at any time under the Loan Agreement shall not exceed the lesser of (i) $2,500,000 in excess of the Credit Limit or (ii) the Maximum Credit Limit, which agreement to advance sums in excess of the Credit Limit shall terminate automatically upon the termination of the Overadvance Guaranties executed by Meritage Private Equity Fund, L.P., a Delaware limited partnership, and Tom Ward (the "Overadvance Guaranties").

3.     Waiver of Defaults. Silicon waives all Events of Default existing as of the date hereof.

4.     Credit Limit. Section 1 of the Amended Schedule relating to the Credit Limit and referring to Section 1.1 shall be amended to read as follows: "An amount not to exceed the lesser of a total of $20,000,000 at any one time outstanding (the 'Maximum Credit Limit'), or the sum of the following: (a) 70% (an 'Advance Rate') of the amount of Borrower's Eligible Accounts (as defined in Section 8 of the Loan Agreement), plus (b) $1,570,270 for advances against Inventory. Silicon may, from time to time, modify the Advance Rates, in its good faith business judgment, upon notice to the Borrower, based on changes in collection experience with respect to Accounts, its evaluation of the Inventory or other issues or factors relating to the Accounts, Inventory or other Collateral."

5.     Recalculation of March 31, 2003 Ineligible Receivables. For the purpose of determining the Credit Limit for the month of April 2003, ineligible receivables shall be reduced by the amounts collected between March 31, 2003 and April 15, 2003, on all ineligible receivables as of March 31, 2003.

6.     Discounting or Factoring of Ineligible Receivables. Borrower may discount or factor ineligible receivables provided that Borrower first obtains Silicon's written approval, which approval may be granted or withheld in Silicon's sole discretion, and provided further that all proceeds of such transactions shall be applied to repayment of outstanding Obligations.

7.     Modification of Amended Schedule. Section 5 of the Amended Schedule is hereby deleted and amended to read in its entirety as follows: "Financial Covenants: Borrower shall comply with each of the following covenants. Compliance shall be determined as of the end of each month except as otherwise specifically provided below: (a) the Maximum Grand Totals Current Inventory Value as set forth on the Distributor Detailed Quarterly Status reports as required under Section 6(2) of this Amended Schedule shall not exceed the sum of $[***], (b) Borrower shall not incur a cash loss (defined as the Borrower's operating loss determined in accordance with GAAP reduced by all non-cash charges and expenses) in excess of $[***] in either of the calendar quarters ending June 30, 2003 or September 30, 2003."

8.     Maturity Date. The Maturity Date is hereby amended to be September 30, 2003, on which date all Obligations under the Loan Agreement shall become due and owing in full to Silicon, without further notice or demand.

9.     Exercise of Remedies. Silicon shall not exercise any remedy under the Loan Agreement unless and until (i) total outstanding Loans exceed the amount of the Credit Limit by more than $2,500,000 or the applicable aggregate Guarantee Amount as determined in accordance with the Overadvance Guaranties, or (ii) an Event of Default occurs after the date hereof; provided however, that, notwithstanding the foregoing, Silicon shall not accelerate the maturity of the Obligations as a result of an Event of Default which, in the good faith reasonable judgment of Silicon, will not materially impair the value of, or Silicon's rights, in the Collateral or Silicon's prospect of recovery of payment of the Obligations. In the event that Loans exceed the Credit Limit plus (a) $2,500,000 or (b) the applicable aggregate Guarantee Amounts as determined in accordance with the Overadvance Guaranties, Silicon will provide a five (5)-day cure period to Borrower prior to accelerating the Borrower's obligations or exercising any remedies under the Loan Agreement.

10.     Plan of Borrower. On or before April 30, 2003: (a) Borrower shall provide to Silicon, in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to Silicon, Borrower's plan (i) to replace [***] as vendors, (ii) to reduce the expenses relating to employees by at least [***], (iii) to consolidate Borrower's Colorado operations into a single location, (iv) to reduce inventory held by Borrower, and (v) to resolve Borrower's outstanding liability to vendors; (b) Borrower shall hire a specialist to negotiate with vendors; and (c) Borrower shall have identified in writing to Silicon segments of Borrower's business to sell.

------------
*Confidential Treatment Requested

11.     Further Actions of Borrower. On or before April 23, 2003, Borrower shall provide to Silicon, in form and substance reasonably satisfactory to Silicon, confirmation that Borrower has not and will not grant a security interest or other lien or interest to any person other than Silicon, except as otherwise provided in connection with the Overadvance Guaranties, in all Intellectual Property of Borrower and of its subsidiaries, including without limitation, its wholly-owned subsidiary Ecrix Corporation and that Borrower will take such steps as Silicon may require to grant, confirm and assure such first priority perfected security interest in favor of Silicon in such Intellectual Property of Borrower and its subsidiaries. Further, Borrower shall use its reasonable efforts to obtain a guarantee from DaisyTek, the parent corporation of Digital Storage, Inc. (DSI"), with respect to the accounts receivable owing from DSI to Borrower.

12.

13.

14.

15.



16.

------------
*Confidential Treatment Requested

17.

18.

|Borrower:                    | Silicon:           
|---------------------------- | -------------------
|EXABYTE CORPORATION          | SILICON VALLEY BANK
|                             |                    
|By                           | By                 
|President or Vice President  | Title              
|By                           |                    
|Secretary or Ass't Secretary |