AmeriFirst Finance Chooses Sphere 3D SnapServer NAS and RDX QuikStor Removable Backup Appliance for Protecting Business-Critical Data

SAN JOSE, CA and MISSISSAGUA, ON--(Marketwired - Dec 18, 2014) - Sphere 3D Corporation, (NASDAQ: ANY), a virtualization technology and data management solutions provider, today announced that AmeriFirst Finance, a privately-held financial services company offering consumer loans and third-party portfolio management for more than 35 years, has selected the SnapServer^® network attached storage (NAS) and RDX^® QuikStor^® removable storage system for automated disaster recovery and backup of their business-critical data.

To provide the highest level of customer service, AmeriFirst Finance required a secure, robust and automatic way of protecting data with offsite disaster recovery. To avoid disruptive access to data, they needed a solution that would ensure constant availability to their customer loan documents and maintain full disaster protection to guarantee compliance.

AmeriFirst chose a multi-layer storage approach using the scalable SnapServer NAS array, the Snap Enterprise Data Replication (EDR) software, and the RDX QuikStor backup system to ensure permanent data accessibility. This tiered methodology allows fast, instant access to data in the event of a disaster, or if data is brought off-line or during a component failure.

"We installed our SnapServer NAS and attached the RDX QuikStor, and were pleased to see that SnapServer with its enterprise GuardianOS software now has a robust, direct backup solution for our crucial data," said Jim Houser, Director of Information Systems at AmeriFirst Finance. "Doing backup through software on a Windows computer was horribly slow. This direct SnapServer NAS to RDX connection is killer fast! Additionally, we used the Snap Enterprise Data Replication software package to replicate our local SnapServer to a remote SnapServer. The added layer of replication gives us a great disaster recovery tool and the peace of mind knowing our data is available in the event that a site goes down."

Houser added, "With RDX working as fast as it does, and having it directly managed in the SnapServer GuardianOS, this now makes it feasible to perform a secure counter-to-counter air flight delivery of current production data to our external third-party servicer in the event of total disaster of the first and second layers of data protection that Snap EDR is providing." 

About RDX
The RDX series with AccuGuard^® enterprise software provides encryption, deduplication, scalability, centralized management and reliability for backup, archive, data interchange and disaster recovery. RDX provides enterprise performance and fast access, with transfer rates of up to 650GB per hour and capacities up to 2TB per cartridge. Users have enough capacity to support a wide range of storage requirements, ensuring their data is fully protected.

About SnapServer
Built upon the industry-leading GuardianOS software, the SnapServer Series offers enterprise class management and data protection features, available in 1U and 2U rack-mount form factors. Ideal for file sharing, backup and remote access, the SnapServer Series supports SATA-II and SSD hard drives and is scalable up to 576TB. The SnapServer GuardianOS includes software-defined storage features such as DynamicRAID for seamless storage expansion by adding or replacing hard drives as capacity requirements change. In addition, all SnapServer storage volumes can grow or shrink dynamically without IT intervention, preventing costly provisioning errors and unnecessary upgrades.

About Sphere 3D
Sphere 3D Corporation (NASDAQ: ANY) is a virtualization technology and data management solutions provider with a portfolio of products that address the complete data continuum from active data to data at rest. Dedicated to continue to lead through innovation, Sphere 3D enables the integration of virtual applications, virtual desktops, and storage into workflow, and allows organizations to deploy a combination of public, private or hybrid cloud strategies. Sphere 3D's Glassware 2.0^® platform delivers virtualization of some of the most demanding applications in the marketplace today, making it easy to move applications from a physical PC or workstation to a virtual environment. Sphere 3D's V3 converged infrastructure solutions include one of the industry's first purpose-built appliances for virtualization and the Desktop Cloud Orchestrator™ management software for VDI. Overland Storage and Tandberg Data, wholly-owned subsidiaries of Sphere 3D, provide an integrated range of technologies and services for primary, nearline, offline, and archival data storage through their data storage, data management and data backup brands, SnapServer^®, SnapScale^®, SnapSan^®, NEO^® and RDX^®, that make it easy and cost-effective to manage different tiers of information over the data lifecycle. For additional information, visit www.sphere3d.com, www.overlandstorage.com, and www.tandbergdata.com. 

Overland Storage and SnapServer are trademarks of Overland Storage, Inc., and Tandberg Data, RDX and QuikStor are trademarks of Tandberg Data Holdings, S.à r.l. that may be registered in some jurisdictions. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.