Distribution - Quantum enlists Ideal to Snap open NAS market

Storage vendor Quantum has enlisted the help of distributor Ideal Hardware to supply its Snap server line of products to the emerging network attached storage (NAS) market.

Storage vendor Quantum has enlisted the help of distributor Ideal Hardware to supply its Snap server line of products to the emerging network attached storage (NAS) market.

The range's prices start at £425 for a 10GB server and rise to £1,250 for the 40GB model. Quantum believes its resellers can offer customers a cheaper alternative to buying a multi-purpose NT or NetWare PC server.

Market analyst Dataquest believes that entry and workgroup-level NAS appliances such as Snap will replace 800,000 fractional servers by 2003.

Erich Flynn, worldwide marketing director at Quantum, said: "In most cases, the NT server licence alone costs more than our products."

Using a proprietary file system, NT files, Mac files and other formats can be stored and retrieved in their original format from the Snap server.

It can be installed on a network in minutes without having to take down an existing file server, and integrates with existing NT security, said Flynn.

Quantum is also offering VARs demonstrations, call centre support and training to raise awareness of NAS. A rack-mountable file server is expected to be launched at the CeBit trade show next month.

- Storage distributor Hammer has signed an agreement with Axis Communications to distribute its NAS appliances, including its StorPoint range of CD-Rom servers.