Recent articles by James E. Gaskin
June 27, 2011
The corporate desktop has looked the same for decades: computer, keyboard, mouse, desk phone, maybe a printer. But do these tools dominate because they're the perfect combination of technology needed for work today, or is the enterprise workplace due for an extreme makeover?
December 06, 2010
Buffalo shattered the $1,000 barrier for a terabyte of shared storage back in 2005. With storage prices continuing to drop, that same $1,000 today can buy a four or even five terabyte network attached storage (NAS) device with RAID 5 disk redundancy, plus additional features, like backup storage licenses and indexing capabilities.
August 09, 2010
Six years ago, we tested dual-WAN routers as a way to pump more bandwidth into small businesses that couldn't afford a T1 and were stuck with relatively slow DSL and cable connections.
August 09, 2010
Netgear, despite its consumer roots, has been making network equipment for small and midsized businesses for years. The FVS336G, though awkwardly named, is the result of that experience; it's easy to install, easy to configure, and easy to manage.
August 09, 2010
Prices for SonicWall products are hard to pin down because, while the firewall and router have no client license fees, adding support for security features such as enhanced client anti-virus and anti-spyware, VPN Client Windows, UTM SSL VPNs, and a few other options need user licenses. Figure around the $400 to $450 range to start, depending on whether you add wireless support, and tally up your options from there.
August 09, 2010
This is the top of the three-member DPG family from Xincom, but Xincom's other products are also multi-WAN units. Its top end X16-R supports up to eight broadband connections, and its ParaLynx 70G includes wireless support.
August 09, 2010
Check Point calls the 1000N a firewall more than a router, and they advertise gigabit throughput, plus 400 VPN tunnels that can run as fast as 200Mbps. You can also run two 1000N units linked together for high availability.
August 09, 2010
A metal box with all the plugs in the back and status lights on the front, the TRENDnet Dual WAN Advanced VPN Router covers the same price range as Netgear. Four 10/100 Fast Ethernet ports, along with separate WAN1 and WAN2 ports fill the back of the unit. The nine-pin serial port for a console connection looks positively nostalgic in today's world of RJ-45 and USB ports.
August 09, 2010
Gather your lucky charms and stroke your rabbit foot for good luck before starting to install the DFL-210.
August 09, 2010
Our suburban test lab includes AT&T U-verse rated at 18Mbps, and Time Warner Cable data access rated at 15Mpbs with "Turbo" mode for faster downloads. Each router was configured with a single WAN connection first then reset for a new IP address range. Once the router was up and running, a second WAN link was added. We then ran real world tests for multiple days, tracking throughput and service issues. We also used the monitoring utilities provided by the routers to track how the traffic flowed between the two WAN connections.
The Connected Enterprise
