Formerly from Adaptec and acquired by Overland Storage in June of 2008, the Snap Servers are NAS boxes offered in multiple configurations targeted to workgroup/small remote offices through small to medium Enterprise deployments. The devices are offered in desktop to rackmount formats, with base capacities currently ranging from 250 GB through 4 TB (1 to 4 drives). A 2U JBOD expansion appliance is also offered for the higher end products; up to seven of these boxes can be attached to the main appliance for an expanded capacity of up to 88 TB (an additional 12 drives per expansion module), again depending on model.

Each of the devices is driven by the vendor's GuardianOS software; with support for TCP/IP, UDP/IP, and Appletalk connections and communication via the CIFS/SMB, NFS v2/3/4, AFP + TCP, HTTP/HTTPS 1.1, and FTP protocols. Several additional software components and capabilities are integrated with the GuardianOS; components that are either included standard with the Snap Server purchase, or available via a separately purchased license key, depending on model. Key integrated offerings include:

- Snap Server Manager, for the management of multiple Snap Servers, included in all Snap Server purchases

- BakBone NetVault backup software. The Workgroup Edition (back up and restore data from up to 5 clients to 4 single tape drives locally attached to a Snap Server), is included in all but the 110/210 models, as is a free upgrade to a 500 GB VTL. BakBone NetVault is optional in the 110/210

- The iSCSI option, optional in the 110, 210, and 410 and standard in all others

- The Snapshot option for on-demand or scheduled point-in-time images (optional in the 110, 210, and 410 and standard in all others)

- CA eTrust Antivirus (also optional in the 110, 210, and 410 and standard in all others)

Other optional software enhancements offered with the Snap Server line are StorAssure Personal Edition, providing continuous data protection for Windows clients; and the Snap EDR (Enterprise Data Replicator) product line, available in Express, Standard, and Advanced flavors.

The current offerings of the Snap Server line include:

- Snap Server 110, a desktop model including a single SATA II drive and connected via a 10/100/1000 port.

- Snap Server 210, a desktop model housing two drives (RAID 0 and 1), and connecting via a 10/100/1000 port.

- Snap Server 410, a 1U model supporting four SATA II drives (RAID 0, 1, 5) and loaded with dual 10/100/1000 ports for connectivity (including support for stand-alone, failover and load balancing modes).

- Snap Server 520, similar to the 410 but with additional support for the vendor's S50 Expansion module, each of which can house up to 12 SATA or SAS drives. Up to 7 Expansion modules can be driven by the 520. Optional dual (hot swappable) power supplies are also available. RAID levels of 0, 1, 5, 6, and 10 are supported.

- Snap Server 620, the newest entry in the line, is similar to the 520 but increases overall performance via the inclusion of a dual-core AMD Opteron processor (according to the vendor, the 620 increases performance by 63% over over the 520).

- Snap Server 650, a 1U model built on two dual-core 64-bit AMD Opteron chips and housing four 15.5K SAS drives. Included are dual 10/100/1000 ports and dual (hot swap) power supplies. RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, and 10 are supported, and like the 520 and 620, up to 7 Expansion Modules can be added to increase the overall capacity.

Other new developments (aside from the 620 model) in the Snap Server line include an upgraded GuardianOS, which is now based on the Linux 2.6 kernel and includes support for native Windows and UNIX permissions handling, added RAID 6 and 10 support (for those Snap Servers with enough disks to support them), and support for heterogeneous file sharing between Windows, Mac, Linux, and UNIX systems, among other improvements; and Snap EDR enhancements.

Visit the Adaptec Web sites for further information.