[Phoenix32]

*Disclosure: I sometimes sell Guardian units on eBay, so this message may be seen as biased. But, I assure you, this is the same information I would give if I never sold a unit, and what I learned as I was buying a lot of other units for my own use.


Just like with the SNAP OS units, I have seen people get ripped off over and over on eBay with the Snap Guardian units. Given the expense of these units and nature of the way Adaptec handles these newer, more capable, and still supported units, it can be a very painful lesson. With this message, I will attempt to give people an idea of what to look for and what to avoid. There will be a short summary at the end of the message if you want to refer back to that now and then.


1) The first thing I am going to say is ASK QUESTIONS! Very few sellers of these units have a clue about anything to do with the units. They just get them in on liquidations and sell them off. Their adds are covered with tons of general fluff, but have very little real information about the actual unit they are selling you. And very little of the direct information is anything of real value. And to add salt to injury, a good portion of the sellers that do know something about the units will purposely leave out critical information. This is so important, I am going to say it again. ASK QUESTIONS! Get direct answers and with the add and your questions, look for the things I will pass on to you here.

2) NEVER ASSUME something/everything is there. Quite often these auction units are missing parts. In fact, I would have to say about 90% or more of the units you see with lower price tags are missing something critical. As Guardian OS owners here on this forum will confirm for you, getting some of the parts for these units is extremely difficult, and expensive. This comes back to asking questions. If you can't see something in the actual photo of the unit or it is not listed in the auction, do not assume it is there. If you do, over 90% of the time, you are going to be right back here on the forum begging people (probably me) to find you some rare and expensive part.

These difficult and expensive parts are not because the units are rare or something like that. It is all about how Adaptec, and truthfully how most companies doing this type equipment handle these type units. Parts are kept in house and controlled as much as possible. In Adaptec's case, most of the time you have to have a service contract to even talk to their tech support, which is how you have to order the parts (not customer service). Sometimes you get lucky, but don't bank on it. Also, they do not keep, or maybe I should say, not let you order some of the parts. Drive sleds (trays, caddies, hot swap units) are a good example. They don't sell the drive sleds. What they sell is a replacement hot swap unit which is a replacement drive mounted to a drive sled. Go price one, you will love it, $400 is a common price for a 250GB drive and sled for example. And a lot of the parts, like the front bezel, are not sold to end users, but rather kept in stock for their service contract units.

3) Now for one of my favorites, The Guardian OS. Just like with missing parts, NEVER ASSUME the Guardian OS is installed! It is not uncommon for companies who previously owned these units to remove the drives or to wipe them (OS and all) prior to releasing them from their posession. FACT! It is part of the IT Departments internal security plan for them to remove or wipe hard disks of any computer equipment before it can leave the company.

Here is where rub comes in for this. The Guardian OS is stored in hidden partitions of the hard disks, not on flashram or the like. If those drives are gone or are wiped, YOU HAVE NO GUARDIAN OS! Scan around here on the forum and see what that means for you. Or better yet, I will just tell you. Even if you have the Guardian OS GSU files(s), you cannot just fire the unit up and install the OS. The OS has to be pre-installed at the factory, installed from another unit that has the OS, or copied onto a drive with an image file from another unit. We already know (or should by now) what Adaptec is going to charge you for a pre-installed setup (real expensive). And I will tell you right up front, you are going to have a very hard time getting your hands on an image file from anyone, and if you do, they are not going to do it for free. This means, unless you already have another unit with the Guardian OS on it, you are going to be in for a lot of headaches, plenty of expense (probably more than you could have just bought a good unit for), or end up with an expensive door stop. For your safety and sanity I am going to say it again, NEVER ASSUME the Guardian OS is installed!

4) While I am talking about missing parts, drives, and Guardian OS, let's talk about those hard disk sleds. I am going to make this one short and sweet. If you don't listen, you can bank on the fact you will be looking me up later. Without hard disk sleds (the hot swap trays), the unit is useless. Missing hard disks you can replace. A missing OS, while a pain in the arse and expensive, you can do. But hard disk sleds are a different matter. They are very rare and almost impossible to get (unless you know someone like me). -IF- you can get them, and that is a very very huge and important -IF-, they won't be cheap. Don't buy a unit without hard disk sleds unless you have a source for them prior to buying the unit. Again, don't buy a unit without hard disk sleds unless you have a source for them prior to buying the unit. Don't come back and say I didn't warn you!

5) Now back to the OS. Okay, so you got drives, drive sleds, and the OS is installed. But, what version is it? This is a much more important aspect than most people give it and where I see people get screwed the most. Right up front, I am going to tell you that you want Guardian OS version 4.2.054 or newer. PERIOD!

The Guardian OS is by far the best NAS OS out there in my opinion, and that opinion is shared by many many experts on the subject. But, as with a lot of software and particularly Operating Systems, they need to be kept up to date with newest security features, options, and protocols. David (blue68f100) is the Software/IT guy around here (among others), so I will refrain from going into all the details. I will just give you the general idea and you are going to just have to trust it, or get more details from David and others (David, please feel free to add to this if you would like).

Unless you have 4.2.054 or newer, sooner or later YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE ISSUES with newer protocols, operating systems (including XP), security, MAC OSx, etc etc etc etc etc. You are also going to be missing a lot of the newer and much better options, wizards, menus, and general upgrade additions. If you plan to get serious with Windows 2K03, or to work with Windows Vista, Windows 2K08, or newer versions of MAC OSx, then you better plan on needing Guardian OS version 4.4.045 or better. The kicker is, even if you "think" you don't need these compatabilities, you might find yourself very surprised, sooner rather than later. My advice, and I bet would be the same advice from most of the other Snap Guardian users here on the forum is, get Guardian OS 4.4.045 as a minimum and Guardian OS 4.4.049 SP2 if at all possible!

Once again, I am going to say, "Don't come back and say I didn't warn you." And before you blow this off and think to yourself you can upgrade later, let me also add this in. If/when you need to get the upgraded Guardian OS, you are going to come back here and say, "Where can I get a newer version of the Guardian OS?" Look around this forum and you will see it. And guess what answer you are going to get? Yup, you will get the standard, "Call Adaptec and pay them $600 for the upgrade" answer. Yes! To get an updated OS from Adaptec is $600. Kind of makes that other unit that was a few hundred dollars more expensive look more attractive doesn't it? You can try Bit Torrent and things like that, but mark my words, you won't find it. You might find another owner who will illegaly transfer the upgrade file to you, but you can also bank on the fact that he or she is going to want several hundred dollars for it. Bottom line, it's going to cost you one way or another. Simple.

6) Guardian Snap Server numbers do not go in order of their technical capabilities or newness. An examples includes the 4200 and 4400. The 4400 is a Pentium 3 unit using ECC Reg PC133 SDRAM. The 4200 is a Pentium 4 unit using ECC Reg DDR PC2700. See what I mean? The 4200 is a newer more advanced unit than the 4400 even though it's number is lower. The 4500 is in fact more powerful than the 4200 due to coming with a faster CPU and more memory (stock) as well as often including options like the External SCSI card etc, but the 4200 was discontinued later than the 4500 was. Not to mention the fact that if you know what to get, you can upgrade the 4200 to be a 4500. LOL, in fact, if you upgrade the unit to be a 4500, it will even read as a 4500 in the Guardian OS menus. Just know that the numbers don't go in order of the capabilites of the units.

7) Memory. Like with most NAS units or Servers, the more memory the better. And keep in mind, that unlike the SNAP OS units that used standard memory, the Guardian OS Snap Servers use ECC Registered Server type memory. You are not going to go down to your average store and just buy memory for it, and it won't be as cheap. If a unit has upgraded memory, that is a plus. They also don't list how much memory is in their units when being sold a lot of times. If not, ASK!

It varies here and there, but as a general rule, the stock memory for some of the Snap Guardian units is as follows; 4400 - 256MB (to 512MB on a few units). 4200 - 256MB most often, but a few had 512MB. 4500 - 512MB but had only 256MB on a few of them. 15000 - 2GB.

From my testing, 1GB of memory seems to be the sweet spot (512MB a minimum). I try to put 2GB in most of my units that I use, but 1GB is sufficient for most uses. Also keep in mind, as a general rule, the larger the storage capacity, the more memory will have an effect on it's use (more storage wants more memory).

8) Expansion cards are a plus. External SCSI, SATA, and Fibre HBA cards that are used for expansion units (like the Snap Disk 10 and 30) and tape drives etc etc etc etc can be expensive. I have seen the external SCSI/SATA cards on eBay for $100 once in a while, but most of the time they are more near $200. And the Fibre HBA card, that is required for the Snap Disk 30 and many other serious expansions, is very expensive. The lowest price I have ever seen that card on eBay for is $798.

9) Shipping. Snap Guardian OS units are not light. They are also fragile with aluminum chassis. When it comes to shipping, expect it to cost a little for good shipping. If the shipping is too cheap, I would be worried about how well it is going to be shipped and what knd of shape it is going to be in when it gets to you. And ALWAYS ASK FOR SHIPPING INSURANCE!!! Again, these units are fragile.


There is so much more, but if you follow what I have written here, you should end up with a good usefull unit that will serve you well. Snap Guardian units are excellent units and just flat out blow away the Snap OS Snap units, but don't expect them to be cheap. If it's cheap, yu can probably bank you are going to have problems.

SUMMARY:

1. ASK QUESTIONS!
2. Never assume everything is there (parts). ASK!
3. Never assume the OS is installed. ASK!
4. If the drive sleds are missing (ASK), don't buy unless you have a source.
5. Get Guardian OS 4.2.054 as a min, 4.4.049SP2 if possible (ASK).
6. Snap Server model numbers do not go in order of tech capabilities or age.
7. The memory is Server memory. You want 512MB min or 1GB as a sweet spot.
8. Expansion cards can be a plus.
9. Pay for good shipping and shipping insurance.


As with most things, but for sure Guardian Snap Servers, Caveat Emptor! The biggest thing I can tell you is, ASK QUESTIONS BEFORE BUYING. You have been warned!