Overland Storage filled a gap in its family of distributed NAS systems and upgraded its operating system and replication software this week when the company announced availability of the Snap Server 620, and new versions of its GuardianOS (GOS) and Snap Enterprise Data Replicator (EDR) software.

The Snap Server 620 makes use of AMD Opteron processors to deliver 63% faster performance than its predecessor, the Snap Server 520. The platform can be configured with four SATA II drives for an initial capacity of up to 4TB and optional scalability of up to 88TB using expansion shelves.

Overland’s director of product and solutions marketing, Steve Rogers, says the Snap Server 620 bridges the gap between the low and high ends of the company’s NAS product line.

“Some of our customers want more performance than was available in the Snap Server 520, but do not have the budget for the 650,” says Rogers. “That’s why the price point for the 620 is right in between the other two models.”

The starting price for a Snap Server 620 with 1TB of capacity is approximately $7,000.

On the software front, Overland enhanced its GuardianOS 5.0 software with new features for data protection and access security, while providing more heterogeneous file sharing capabilities.

Overland has rewritten its Linux kernel for improved stability and performance and improved its support for Windows file and folder access control lists. GOS 5.0 also features native Windows and Unix permissions handling for consistent security across all client access protocols, and support for RAID 6 and RAID 10.

The company also expanded its NAS replication functionality with the release of Snap EDR 7.2. The software is embedded in GOS 5.0 and moves data between Snap Servers and Windows, Linux, and Macintosh OSX platforms. Snap EDR 7.2 also includes compression and encryption, along with centralized administration, job scheduling, reporting, open file support, and clustering.

The Snap Server 620 also comes with BakBone Software’s NetVault: Backup 8.1 software. Users can activate the NetVault license to enable tape backup from the NAS server for open systems data protection.

Snap Server 620 is available now, and existing Snap Server users can upgrade to GOS 5.0 and EDR 7.2. GuardianOS 5.0 enhancements are available for the entire Snap Server product line. BakBone’s NetVault: Backup 8.1 is available as an integrated feature for Snap Server models 650, 620, 520, and 410. The software is optional on Snap Servers 210 and 110. Additionally, Snap EDR 7.2 is available in both standard and express editions as optional software for all Snap Server models.