NetMAX Customer Stories

ICEBox Server Appliances Use NetMAX Software to Power Small Enterprise Networks

With no additional licensing fees, NetMAX keeps white box server costs affordable

Situation:

ICE Systems, LLC, an innovative software and hardware company focusing on reliable and economical computing solutions for small to medium-sized businesses, serves a four-state region from Kansas City, Kansas. Its offerings include a popular specialized server appliance, known as the ICEBox that delivers critical networking capabilities at an economical price. To keep the cost of the ICEBox reasonable, ICE Systems needed flexible, reliable software that could be customized to each machine, depending on a client's needs.

Background:

According to the Small Business Administration, there were 15 million small businesses in the United States in 1999. That same year, Stefan Zauchenberger formed ICE Systems to offer this market segment reliable and affordable IT services, including customized servers for secure file sharing, security solutions including firewalls and VPNs, anti-virus software and content filtering solutions. He reasoned that every business, regardless of size, would require some type of IT infrastructure and security system for even the most mundane tasks, such as accessing the Internet and sharing printers.

Just before founding ICE Systems, Zauchenberger had discovered Cybernet Systems' NetMAX software on the shelf at his local Micro Center. He successfully used it to switch his employer's server from Windows NT to a Linux platform. He was so impressed with the software's ease of use that NetMAX became key to realizing his dream of offering an economical “set it and forget it” server to ICE Systems' clients.

Solution:

Zauchenberger found that many of his clients did not have IT managers and, if they did, the network administrator was probably using Microsoft® Windows® because of its recognizable brand name. But using Windows as an operating platform proved to be cost prohibitive, especially for a growing business that needed to purchase additional licenses for users. And while many entry level IT managers were intrigued by Linux, they shied away from trying the open source program due to the lack of a friendly end user interface. Of the available solutions, Webmin, a free web-based interface for Linux system management, was too complicated for most Windows users to understand.

“I started with the original NetMAX products because I was intrigued by their low cost and claim to simplify Linux,” Zauchenberger explained. “I discovered that NetMAX did exactly what it said it could do. I now use the NetMAX Professional almost exclusively for the ICEBox – it's essentially the backbone of my server products.”

Zauchenberger finds NetMAX very easy to use, and especially likes the setup speed. “The difference in setup time between NetMAX and a comparable Windows® environment is huge,” he said. “Once the white box is built, I can install the NetMAX software in less than 15 minutes…just as it claims on the box.”

ICE Systems then configures the software for optimal operation within the office environment of each customer. “The remote administration facilities of NetMAX allow my engineers to provide 24/7 managed support without ever leaving our office,” Zauchenberger said. “This saves money for everyone involved.”

He also believes that the NetMAX interface is its crown jewel. “NetMAX has the most compelling breadth of features for end users and administrators,” he added. “No other product on the market has the spectrum of features on a common interface running on the Linux platform.”

Zauchenberger is especially pleased that NetMAX software comes without additional licensing requirements. He notes that the licensing issue with Microsoft products is “huge” and was cumbersome even in its infancy. “My customers have from 3-300 computer users, and the majority of them don't have IT managers,” he explained. “Of the companies that have tech-savvy people, many were using Microsoft products because they knew the Microsoft name. But administering the licensing program was a headache most companies didn't want or need. With the ICEBox server and NetMAX software, it's a one-time purchase with no additional per-user fees. What's more, the product just runs and runs…none of the usual NT or Win2000 nightmares.”

He added that, with companies such as Oracle and IBM now supporting custom applications running Linux, there is even more interest in using open source as the foundation for IT networks.

Going forward, Zauchenberger plans to do even more customization with NetMAX Professional 4.0. “With the option for source code, anyone can tailor NetMAX to a specific situation,” he noted. “It's a testament to NetMAX and to Linux that it is more reliable and less expensive than other Internet appliance software on the market.”

Have an opinion about NetMAX you'd like to share with us? We would very much like to hear from you - especially about how you use NetMAX and Linux in your business. You can contribute your input to the NetMAX Forum, or to our general NetMAX contact form!

Let us know about your likes, dislikes, and general comments. We are especially interested in the type of additions to NetMAX Server you would like to see as we continue to develop the NetMAX Product Line.