EmergeCore Networks' IT-100 promises small-business owners a complete business-technology system - Web hosting, e-mail services, file sharing, firewall and built-in wireless access point and router - so easy to set up and manage that they won't need IT help. And the price is right: At $1,395, the hardware and software system costs less than comparable software servers from Microsoft and Novell.

But its good features - fast performance; quiet, fanless operation; and Web-building tools - barely balance out the underdeveloped and shallow management features, poor documentation and help screens, and convoluted administration.

EmergeCore says you don't need Microsoft Exchange Server, which saves $1,500. But the capabilities of POP3 and Internet Message Access Protocol mail server don't integrate with Outlook's calendars, task lists and address books. In a world of file and print sharing, the IT-100 doesn't include software to support its printer port. EmergeCore estimates $1,700 in systems-management cost savings, but it's hard to imagine the little management available would be worth that much. Backups through the included USB ports don't copy data or Web pages, only the system configuration files. An EmergeCore support tech admitted that it's not really a backup.

The 14-page Express Setup Guide echoes the installation screens, adds nothing else, and ends before explaining how to add users and mailboxes. An on-screen question-mark icon promises online help, but provides scant explanation below each option. There are no details about your choices or guidelines for making them.

The IT-100 builds domains for both the Internet services (Web and e-mail) and local file-sharing access via Windows network protocols. Defining users requires four screens to do what could be done on one or two. You create users through the Domain menu heading rather than the Users heading. But the Users heading controls only administrators. You can connect the IT-100 directly to your WAN (via cable or DSL modem) or to an existing router. When we connected the box to our cable modem, the IT-100 grabbed the network information correctly and automatically initiated network address translation (NAT) to support internal network addresses. This was the first installation step that delivered on EmergeCore's promised ease of use.