Customized Server Appliances For SOHO Clients

Small businesses, home offices, and home users alike are quickly becoming overwhelmed by data. Whether it's digital pictures, videos, scanned material, or plain old documents, one thing has become certain: Managing all that data on more than one system has become an overwhelming burden.

In the business environment, the problem gets solved by installing a server. But for the typical small office/home office (SOHO) user, this option is usually too costly. Another option, peer-to-peer networks, seems no better: P2P typically mulitplies management problems by the number of computers.

This management nightmare creates an opportunity for the smart system builder. The solution: create customized server appliances. A server appliance offers the benefits of a traditional server, but at a much lower cost -- and without the traditional management burdens associated with a full-blown server.

Selecting Ingredients: OS

From the system builder's perspective, constructing a server appliance is not that different from building a typical whitebox PC or server. The one exception is product selection. For a server appliance, no exotic hardware is needed. Instead, the system builder should choose basic components that stress reliability over performance and that offer adequate storage needs.First, an operating system is needed. There are a couple of ways to go, but certain prerequisites should drive the choice. First, a successful server appliance should be a "headless," meaning the unit will function without a monitor, keyboard, or mouse. Those components will be needed for the initial setup only; after that, the server appliance will be managed by a browser from another, network-attached system.

There are a few OS choices that can be used to roll together a server appliance. First and foremost, there is the server appliance development kit (SAK) from Microsoft. Unfortunately, that product requires a system builder to become an authorized OEM.

Next on the list of choices: a Linux distribution. A system builder will find all the pieces there to build a successful server appliance. But they will have to invest the time and effort into arranging the various software components into something useful.

With those concerns in mind, a system builder may want to pick a pre-configured OS for a server appliance. There are several on the market. But a system builder will probably be best served by a server suite, such as NetMAX Professional Suite from Cybernet Systems, an independent software developer.

NetMax Professional, now in version 5, is built on a Red Hat Linux distribution and includes the following features: complete Linux server environment, browser-based GUI, DHCP server, DNS server, Internet sharing, extensive reports, mail server, ftp server, Web server, Web proxy, VPN server, and more. As you can see, the list of features is extensive.Selecting Ingredients: Hardware

With the software selection out of the way, the next task is to pick the appropriate hardware for a server appliance. First, we need a case to house the components. A server appliance should be neither large nor loud.

For this Recipe, I went with an Aria Micro-ATX Cube Case from Antec. The $129 (MSRP) Aria is a cube-shaped case that, while little bigger than an Xbox, can still house several components. It measures just 7.9 inches high by 10.6 inches wide by 13.2 inches deep. The case weighs about 10 pounds, including its 300-watt power supply. It can house nearly any MicroATX-sized motherboard, and it offers an integrated 8-in-1 card reader (CF I/II, MS, MS Pro, SD, MMC and MicroDrive) on the front of the unit, along with two USB 2.0 Ports, two audio ports, and one IEEE 1394 Firewire port. The case also includes a low-speed, 120-mm fan that offers quiet cooling. Easy assembly is part of the design: Side and top panels are easy to remove, and the drives are accessed by a swing-up cage that greatly simplifies installation. In fact, the unit can house one external 5.25-inch drive and three internal 3.5-inch drives, yet still have enough space for four full-height PCI expansions.

Here's a look at both the outside and inside of this Antec case:

For a server appliance, processing power becomes less important than you might assume. After all, the server appliance will spend much of its time sitting idle, or just serving up files. Too much power, in this case, is a waste. So with that in mind, I saved a few bucks by going with an Intel Celeron processor. With a street price of just under $70, a 2-GHz Intel Celeron processor is both economical and speedy enough for our needs. Here's a look:

The same theme follows with video. On-board video -- used only for initial setup -- is not all that critical for this application. So you don't need a separate video card. Knowing this will help you keep prices under control.

I selected an Intel D865GLC Desktop Board, which incorporates onboard video, SATA 150-MB hard-drive support, and integrated 10/100/1000 Ethernet. The Intel board also supports hyper threading, an 800-MHz bus, DDR400/333/266 SDRAM, USB 2.0, three PCI slots, and six-channel audio. At an MSRP of $135, the board proves to be a bargain, especially considering the feature set. Here's a close-up view of the board:

Next on the agenda is system memory and storage. For system memory, a pair of Kingston KVR400X64C25/256 256-Mbyte memory modules ($65 each, MSRP), for a total of 512 MB of RAM, fit the bill. With appliances, the general rule with RAM is "more is better." But if cost is an overriding concern, most system builders could get by with 256 MB of total RAM. Here's a view of these memory modules:

My choice of drives further holds down costs: EIDE drives still prove to be the cheapest way to store data. Reliability concerns can be put aside by installing a pair of like drives, then mirroring them in a RAID level 1 fashion.

I selected a pair of Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 120-GB EIDE/ATA hard drives as the primary storage components for the appliance. The drives, with a street price of under $100 each, are economical and have sufficient storage for most SOHO needs. Here's how the drive looks:

The last item to be selected is an optical drive. Many factors will drive what unit to use: For example, will the drive be used for backup? Or is the drive available only for installing software?

With prices approaching all-time lows on CD/DVD RW drives, I chose a rewritable DVD drive that can be used for backup purposes, too. For around $80 street, a Toshiba SD-R5272 fits the bill. The drive offers 8x4x12x DVD-RW and 32x10x40x CD-RW capabilities. Here's a photo of the drive:

Selecting Ingredients: Software

With hardware out of the way, it's time to move on to the software components of the equation, NetMAX Professional offers everything a system builder needs to complete the server appliance. To play with NetMAX yourself, download a 30-day demo from the NetMAX Web site.

For the initial install, you will need to connect a mouse, keyboard, and monitor. The included NetMax CD is a bootable disk. To start the install, boot off of the install CD, then follow the prompts. To complete the setup tasks, you will need a separate workstation wired to the server via Ethernet.

NetMAX also offers a remote install option -- it works surprisingly well -- that supports installs to headless systems. The remote-install method requires that you have a workstation attached to the server via Ethernet. For a headless install, boot the appliance from the NetMAX install disk, then use the ARP command on your workstation to program in an IP address for the unit. (I won't go through the whole install here, as it is covered quite well in the NetMAX manual). Here's how it should look on the screen:

Next, continue doing the setup via a workstation's Web browser. Just point the browser to https://:5150/. Follow the prompts, and you should be in business.

An appliance running NetMAX is simple to administer. All of the browser-based screens are well laid out and concise. Also, ample on-line help and setup wizards speed most tasks. For example, take a look at the main console screen:

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Configuring users and groups follows along as another easy task:

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System management and application management also follow the "easy to use" paradigm:View screenshot in separate window.

The simple fact is, a system builder can find opportunity in what was once considered an unlikely place. With technical expertise, buying power, and marketing prowess, a system builder is now ready to roll out appliance based solutions for SOHOs.

FRANK J. OHLHORST is Technology Editor at CRN.

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