Snap Server 650 Adds Horsepower

The new Adaptec Snap Server 650 adds a high-performance option to an already-impressive lineup of reliable and easy-to-manage storage appliances.

Adaptecs Snap Server-branded products address the needs of small and midsize businesses that require expandable NAS (network-attached storage) and iSCSI storage and data protection.

The Snap Server 650, which began shipping in January, starts at $15,695. The 1U (1.75-inch) server is equipped with two dual-core Advanced Micro Devices Opteron processors with 2GB of RAM, expandable up to 4GB. The unit eWeek Labs tested was outfitted with four hot-swappable 300GB SAS (Serial-Attached SCSI) hard drives, providing a total of 1.2TB of raw storage capacity.

The performance-oriented Snap Server 650 packs sufficient horsepower under the hood to tackle throughput-intensive duties such as file storage, e-mail and backup for a growing pool of concurrent users. With Adaptecs optional Snap Enterprise Data Replicator software, IT managers can take advantage of fast replication functionality as well.

Users familiar with Adaptecs Snap Server products will find that the Snap Server 650 has the same straightforward setup and administration interfaces shared by its brethren. IT managers can configure the device with either the Snap Server Manager utility—which works across Windows, Linux, Unix and Mac OS X platforms—or the browser-based administration tool. (The latest version of Adaptecs GuardianOS running on the Snap Server 650 supports the impending revamp of daylight-saving time.)

Providing connectivity are two Gigabit Ethernet ports that can be teamed for failover and load balancing. Standard file-sharing protocols including NFS (Network File System), CIFS (Common Internet File System), AFP (Apple File Protocol), HTTP and FTP are supported.

The Snap Server 650s four SAS hard drives can be combined with RAID 0 (striping), RAID 1 (mirroring) and RAID 5 (striping with parity). The default RAID 5 configuration yields approximately 834GB of free space. According to Adaptec officials, the Snap Server 650 is capable of 1,045M bps of throughput using the RAID 5 configuration, effectively doubling the transfer speed of the less-expensive Snap Server 550.

Up to 256 snapshot volumes can be stored on the Snap Server 650. Images of server- or volume-specific settings also can be backed up off the product for disaster recovery purposes.

For additional space, the Snap Server 650 can host as many as seven SANbloc S50 JBOD (just a bunch of disks) arrays for a total of 64.2TB of storage. The arrays connect via the Snap Server 650s bundled SAS host bus adapter. Each 2U (3.5-inch) SANbloc S50 features 12 hot-swappable drive bays. A new version of the array that holds up to 9TB using 750GB SATA (Serial ATA) drives or 3.6TB using SAS drives is slated to begin shipping in February.

Organizations looking to integrate tape backup can connect an external drive over the Snap Server 650s rear 68-pin Ultra320 SCSI port. Also included is BakBone Softwares NetVault Workgroup Edition software, which supports D2D (disk to disk) backup with a 500GB VTL (virtual tape library), as well as D2D2T (disk to disk to tape) backup. Encryption and authentication are provided by CAs eTrust Antivirus software. ´

Technical Analyst Victor Loh can be reached at victor_loh@ziffdavis.com.