Adaptec to Update Entry-Level NAS Products

Adaptec will soon refresh the low end of its Snap Server network attached storage (NAS) product line, releasing new systems that will use the same operating system and virtualization software as its higher-end products, company executives said.

The new products will include the single-drive Snap Server 110, the two-drive Snap Server 210 and the four-drive, one rack-unit (1U) Snap Server 410, according to executives at Adaptec, a storage hardware and software vendor in Milpitas, Calif. The products are designed for use in remote offices, home offices, workgroups and smaller business environments.

Besides being based on new hardware, the new products will run the GuardianOS operating system used in the company’s higher-end NAS products, said Demetri Christodoulou, country manager for Adaptec Australia. The current entry-level Snap Server products—the 1100, 2200 and 4100—run the SnapOS operating system. Those products will be replaced by the new entry-level systems, he said.

Adding the high-end software to low-end products could help users by providing better interoperability among their Snap Server systems. It could also benefit Adaptec, by helping it to reduce its costs and sell more equipment to enterprise customers, who would benefit from the interoperability.

Since they will all run the GuardianOS, even the lowest-end Snap Server will now integrate directly with Active Directory, said Neil Cameron, field application engineer at Adaptec Australia. The company will also standardize its synchronization software across its Snap Servers, removing the S2S Synchronization in favor of the Snap Enterprise Data Replicator (EDR). “We need to bring all the disparate parts of Adaptec into a line, into working with one another,” Cameron said.

Adaptec, which had decided last year to pull out of the systems business, announced in July that it would retain the Snap Server line of block and file storage systems as it saw new growth opportunities from those products. The Snap Server became part of Adaptec’s product line after it acquired Snap Appliance in July 2004.

The new entry-level products, which will start at US$500, will no longer be expandable. The company does not see a lot of customer interest in expandability in the low-cost, entry-level market, according to Christodoulou. The 110 will come in 80, 160, 250 and 500GB capacities; the 210 will ship with 250 and 500GB capacities; and the 410 will have up to 640GB of capacity, Cameron said.

Adaptec is also working with value-added resellers (VARs) who will integrate its software, called OnTarget, with third-party hardware to sell an IP SAN product, Christodoulou said. The software will allow VARs to deploy storage as part of an iSCSI SAN, he said. It’s a revision of an earlier IP SAN product from Adaptec, the iSA1500 storage array, but will have better software and better mirroring and synchronization capabilities, Cameron said.

-John Ribeiro, IDG News Service (Bangalore Bureau)

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