* The Reviewmeister takes a look at an all-in-one server applicance
I love all-in-one server appliances for small businesses. The best provide the greatest benefit for most businesses for the smallest amount of configuration time.
The new Taurus from Procom Technology offeres wireless support, a working print server, and easy set-up.
Meant to fit between a small company’s internal network and an Internet connection, Taurus, like other all-in-one servers, requires you to use its internal file server as your external firewall and Web server. This design relies heavily on the included firewall to keep your file server safe. For that reason, I wanted more management detail about the firewall and more configuration flexibility than Taurus provided.
The company could do better. This also means you will have to keep your Taurus software updates current to help maintain a strong barrier against outside hackers.
Once you configure the Taurus’ IP address, installation between your network and the world takes only seconds. The browser-based administration pages use a tabbed interface for easy navigation. Finding your way around is easy, but getting into fine details is impossible. Like with other all-in-one boxes, I yearned for an Advanced button to let me drill down another level for configuration flexibility. Other Linux server software (the Taurus is based on an unnamed Linux version) offers such administration control, but Procom has yet to add that to the Taurus.
Setting up the Web server takes only seconds, and one click starts the server in the Administration pages. The Taurus includes FTP client software for easy Web-content file transfers to post your information on your Web site. If you prefer not to use the public-access FTP directory, you can choose the directory to hold the Web server files. You also can host multiple Web servers on the Taurus (which makes it more complex to set up), so if Joe’s Hardware expands to include Joe’s Lumber, each could have its own Web site.
The e-mail server can be set up just as quickly (one click to start the server) and automatically integrates all users created on the system. Any POP3 e-mail client can access the mail server, and Procom includes an excellent Web-based mail client with an extensive manual for explanation.
An antenna to extend your wireless range is included with the 802.11b wireless access card. The antenna helps, and using a PC Card plug-in for wireless will make it easy for Procom to upgrade to 802.11a or 802.11g in the future.
For the full report, go to https://www.nwfusion.com/net.worker/news/2003/0818networkerlead.html
