From Pro/Wiki

One frequent problem that Snap owners have as hard drives have become larger is that Snap Servers with OS versions older than 3.4.805 (?) don't recognize drives larger than 137GB. If you have this problem, you may want to upgrade your Snap OS to a later version.

Contents 1 CAUTIONS 2 OS Versions 3 Snap OS Add-Ons 4 Support 5 Snap OS v4.0.860

CAUTIONS

1. If you have a BIOS older than 2.0, upgrade to 2.0 FIRST before upgrading to version 4.x.

2. There is a change in the disk format between 2.x and 3.x. The disk format change is handled automatically, and there won't be any loss of data, but you can't revert to an earlier version once you've upgraded. DON'T TRY TO DOWNGRADE A SNAP SERVER FROM VERSION 3.x TO VERSION 2.x. You probably wouldn't want to do it anyway.

OS Versions

Here is what seems to be currently known about SnapOS versions (feel free to add to this section if you know more):

1.0 or 1.1 requires an OS upgrade to at least version 1.2.180 before performing a SnapOS 2.0 (or higher) upgrade

1.2 can be upgraded to version 2.0

2.0 uses a different disk format which 1.x will not understand

3.1.x and above

3.4.x or higher has the latest version of the Java Virtual Machine, and the ability to not have to use the Assist utility to do updates etc and various bug patches etc.

3.4.80x has Microsoft Windows 2000 Server Active Directory support.

3.4.805 and above are needed for drives larger than 137GB.

Version 3.4.807 is the current version available from Adaptec for no charge during their complimentary support period of 60 days.

Versions 4.0.0 through 4.0.860 added bug fixes for 2003 Active Directory. 4.x also requires the 4.x version of Assist to install.

4.0.860 is needed for true Microsoft Windows 2003 Server Active Directory support, seems to be relatively bug-free and is generally recommended if you're using any 4.x version.

Snap OS Add-Ons

The 4.x and above JVM has support for SSL, SnapExtensions such as ServerSync (Server-to-Server synchronization) and other applications specifically designed to run on the Snap Server and extend its capabilities. 4.x also comes with OSUpdate.exe and UGUpdate.exe, command line utilities to allow updating the OS and automating the refresh procedure when new users are added. In other words, the command line utilities included with 4.x make system administration much easier by allowing some tasks to be automated. These utilities are also available in the file Util_Zip.exe, which is also available from Adaptec for no charge during the complimentary support period.

Support

Adaptec has a complimentary support period during which they will speak to you, after which they will not. Adaptec no longer provides upgrades of Snap OS for free, as a rule, but they WILL send you a user name and password for obtaining Snap OS 3.4.807 if you register your Snap Server with them (thus starting the clock on the complimentary support) and then send an email request to technical support. Response time has been reported to be very fast, sometimes on the order of an hour.

If that solution is not available to you, you may pay for an Adaptec technical support contract. At least one user has reported that Adaptec offered half price for the OS upgrade if he abrogated his right to any future technical support. Other users have reported that they were able to get the latest upgrades by contacting others in the Snap Server user community, although this approach is technically software piracy and the ProCooling website does not condone it.

The last version of Snap OS that Adaptec provided for free, version 3.4.807, does support larger drives than 137GB.

Snap OS v4.0.860

Adaptec did, for a while, have a version 4.0.860 upgrade kit (as opposed to a full-blown OS) available on their website (it's no longer there), and it may also be available by contacting tech support, but this upgrade kit only worked on Snap OS version 4 or newer. The SnapOS 4.0.860 upgrade patch resolved issues introduced by Microsoft KB885250 and issues with SMTP setting in SnapOS 4.0.084 and 4.0.085. It appears that if you wish to upgrade to version 4.x from version 3, you will need the full OS rather than this kit.

NOTE: Happily enough, the latest JVM and ServerSync versions available with this "partial" upgrade kit will work with versions older than 4.x, even though the 4.0.860 version upgrade will not, so the free-but-crippled 4.0.860 upgrade file is worth getting even if you only have or plan to run version 3.x.