NetMAX Newsletter - February 2005

1. [Testimonials] NetMAX on Campus
2. [Technical] Customizing E-Mail Filtering
3. [Tips and Tricks] Unique NetMAX Uses
4. [General] Let's Hear From You

1. NetMAX on Campus

The University Network is a leader in campus communications, offering a Web-based plasma screen messaging system to reach students at educational institutions. The narrowcast communication systems are placed in high traffic areas such as student unions, recreation centers and dining facilities. A large-format plasma screen displays university information and commercial messages, utilizing advanced Internet technology to communicate with this very mobile and hard-to-reach audience. The University Network currently has more than 100 installations across the U.S.

S-troniX, Inc., a company specializing in legacy computer integrations, was tasked in 2003 with developing the hardware and software infrastructure for operating The University Network. Their solution? NetMAX!

The complete case study is available on the NetMAX website at:

http://www.netmax.com/case-stronix.html

2. Customizing E-Mail Filtering

The filtering features of the NetMAX E-Mail Powerpack are powered by a great program called SpamBouncer (Copyright © 1996-2004 by Catherine A. Hampton), which allows for flexibility in configuring what gets filtered out from your system -- and perhaps more importantly, what does NOT get filtered.

These customizable features can be accessed via a number of configuration files in each user's home directory, as well as in a few global configuration files (for entity-wide filtering). The syntax and exact location of these files can be found by logging into your NetMAX interface and accessing HOME|Personal. You can also click the link entitled "SpamFilter Help" to access online help for detailed information on customizing these files.

Note that you do not need administrative access to view this documentation -- so you can feel free to let your users customize their own filtering settings if they prefer.

For more information, please refer to the help path listed above, or visit the Knowledge Base Article located online at:

http://www.netmax.com/fom/cache/495.html

3. Unique NetMAX Uses

Since the most current version of NetMAX runs on a Red Hat 9 Compatible core, your NetMAX has binary compatibility with Red Hat 9 as well. What this means to you is that a lot of great open-source software will run on your NetMAX, assuming you have the interest in doing so, and enough know-how and confidence to get it up and running. Nathan, the NetMAX Team's lead developer, has been exploring such unique uses for NetMAX servers of late, to take advantage of extra NetMAX server hardware lying around the NetMAX offices.

Please note that the installation of third party applications can not be directly supported by the NetMAX team, though fee-based consulting is always available if you need our help! You may wish to take advantage of old NetMAXes or NetMAX-worthy hardware instead of your in-use NetMAX servers if you wish to test possible alternate uses of NetMAX.

Lately, Nathan has been tinkering with using three SG20 units and an SG10 unit to assist his main Linux machine in rendering 3D images and animations. This allows him to off-load some of the CPU time to those machines instead of slowing down his main system. Also, with the participation of all nodes (including desktop) this can drastically reduce the amount of time it takes to render things.

The ingredients for this recipe include NetMAX 5, a properly configured firewall, Blender 2.36, and the piovra scripts located online at:

http://www.idstudio.it/piovra/

4. Let's Hear From You!

We would very much like to hear from you -- especially about how you use NetMAX and Linux in your business, and how we can make NetMAX better suited to your needs. Contribute your input to the NetMAX Forum at:

www.netmax.com/cgi-bin/ikonboard/ikonboard.cgi

or to our general NetMAX contact form at:

www.netmax.com/partners/contacts.html

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

Thank you!