Network Appliance posted fairly remarkable results in its third quarter, increasing sales well beyond marks set by other hardware vendors.

NetApp pulled in $297 million in the period - a 30 per cent increase over the $229 million posted in the same quarter a year ago. The data storage equipment vendor also reported net income of $40.2 million versus $19.7 million in last year's Q3. Most hardware vendors are hovering just above break even, which makes NetApp's 30 per cent growth rate stand out in a big way.

The big gains for NetApp came from good old-fashioned hardware. Product revenue increased to $269 million from $205 million last year. Services revenue improved to $28 million from $23 million.

Investors in the after-hours markets appeared pleased with the results, sending NetApp shares higher by nine per cent to $22.27, at the time of this report. ®