Under the Covers

It’s quite simple to disassemble the Snap Server 110. Just two screws on the rear panel and two screws on the bottom hold it together. You’re probably not going to want to disassemble your unit though, as you’ll void your three-year warranty. A piece of holographic tape seals the case to the chassis, and even if you’re careful not to tear the tape, the word VOID is transferred from the tape to the chassis upon removal. Still, I forged ahead and opened the case so I could show you the interior.

Figure 2: Interior view of the Snap Server 110 with drive mounted

Once the four screws are removed, the front panel pulls out, and then the entire chassis can be removed from the case (Figure 2). This model is powered by a Maxtor MaxLine III 250 GB SATA 150 drive (Model 7L250S0). It’s held in place by four screws that attach the drive to vertical mounting tabs on the chassis.

Figure 3: Snap Server Interior view with drive removed

Removing the four mounting screws of the drive and setting it aside reveals the motherboard (Figure 3). The 110 is powered by a VIA Esther processor running at 1 GHz, and 256 MB of memory. This combination of hardware enables the 110 to turn in some great performance numbers, which I’ll get to later. Power consumption, at 24 W, is a bit on the high side for a single-drive NAS. There are no idle spin-down or timed shutdown/startup options for energy-conscious users.

Setup

Setup of the 110 is, forgive me, a snap. Once connected to your DHCP enabled network, you can either enter http://SNAPnnnnnnn into your browser, (where "n" is the server number found on the bottom of the case) or you can install the Snap Server Manager. The Snap Server Manager (Figure 4) is a Java-based tool that lets you manage either a single Snap Server, or, with the purchase of an additional license, multiple servers from a single console. Double-clicking on a server opens a window with summary information on your server. From the administration tab, you can launch your web browser to administer the server.

Figure 4: Snap Server Manager console

Tags: Adaptec, NAS, Snap Server,

Related Articles: