Adaptec adds Opteron-based NAS

Even as it continues to search for a buyer for its Snap Server NAS (network-attached storage) business, Adaptec Inc. Tuesday rolled out the latest additions to its Linux-based NAS hardware line.

The new 1U (1.75-inch) Snap Servers are Adaptec's first powered by Advanced Micro Devices Inc.'s Opteron 64-bit processor and that can use either SAS (Serial Attached SCSI) or SATA (Serial ATA) drives, said officials of the Milpitas, California, company.

The Snap Server 510 and 520, with SATA drives, offer throughput up to 525M bps (bits per second) and 555M bps, respectively. Storage capacity for the 510 is 640G bytes, and up to 2T bytes for the 520. The Snap Server 550, using SAS disks, has 1.2T-byte capacity and bandwidth up to 700M bps. The new boxes replace the SnapServer 4500, which topped out in performance at 350M bps, said officials.

With Adaptec's SANbloc S50 JBOD expansion array, users can opt for either SATA or SAS drives for the 520 or 550 and can scale up to 26T bytes for the 520 and up to 43.2T bytes for the 550, according to officials.

Redundant hot-swappable power supplies are standard in the 550 and available for additional cost for the 510 and 520.

Both the 510 and 520 are available now. Pricing for the 510 starts at US$3,595; while the 520 starts at $4,595 for 1T byte and $6,395 for 2T bytes storage capacity. The 550, available in March, starts at $9,995.

The Snap Server boxes ship with CA Inc.'s eTrust antivirus and BakBone Software Inc.'s NetVault backup software, which includes a 500G-byte virtual tape library license. Adaptec also offers software that allows users to manage the boxes from a central console.

Adaptec on Tuesday also added to its software line with the launch of new continuous data protection software for automating back-up of remote PCs to a networked Snap Server. The new software, StorAssure Personal Edition, will be available in March. Pricing starts at $35 per Windows client.

Despite the rollout, Snap Server's future remains up in the air. Adaptec said in October that it planned to sell off its NAS business to focus on its RAID software, virtualization software stack and Adaptec Storage Manager products. As part of this restructuring, Adaptec last month said it was selling off its Eurologic block-based systems business to Sanmina-SCI Corp. subsidiary Newisys Inc.