NetMAX Newsletter - November 2003

1. [General] NetMAX Survey (Win a Magnia!)
2. [New!] Magnia SG30s Now Available
3. [Technical] NetMAX FTP Tips
4. [Support] NetMAX Support Holiday Hours
5. [General] Let's Hear From You

1. NetMAX Survey (Win a Magnia!)
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As you may or may not have heard, Red Hat - the underlying Linux technology upon which NetMAX is built - is no longer making or supporting the freely distributable version of their products.

This means that future revisions of NetMAX will be built upon a different version of Linux.  There are several factors to consider here. Among these are price, reliability, release schedule, security and compatibility.  In addition, the choice shall not reduce the quality or usability of the NetMAX product functionality.

We have analyzed several potential candidates, including Red Hat Enterprise, SuSE, Debian, and the Fedora Project.  Each has its own distinct advantages and disadvantages that impact the final decision of the team.  While we have identified our preferred solution, we would appreciate your input before we settle on a final decision.

We have created an online survey located at the URL below:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=67124327412

Please take a few moments to answer the questions.  This is a very
short survey (only 5 questions) and the first 100 participants will
be entered into a random drawing to win a free Magnia SG20 with NetMAX!

We appreciate your input, and hope that you take advantage of this
chance to help us make the NetMAX product YOUR product.

2. Magnia SG30s Now Available
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Toshiba recently released the next product in their Magnia line of Internet Appliance Servers... and now you can get them with NetMAX installed!  The Magnia SG30s look a lot like the SG20s, but pack 1.2GHz Celerons, 256MB RAM, and up to two 2.5" Hard Drives into the compact Magnia chassis.  The new NetMAX Magnia SG30s include one 40GB Hard Drive standard, and include UPS Support.

Magnia SG30 models are now available in VPN, Professional, and VPN+Professional versions.  Prices begin at $1959.

If you don't need quite that much server power, or just don't want to spend that much, don't worry -- we've still got the Magnia SG20s available, starting at $399!

You can order your Magnia online via the NetMAX Store:

http://www.netmax.com/order/BuyStuff.cgi

3. NetMAX FTP Tips
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FTP, or the File Transfer Protocol, is a feature of NetMAX that is commonly used by our customers.  As such, we get a fair number of questions regarding its use.  FTP is a TCP based service that utilizes two ports, one for data transfer and one for sending commands (port 21).  It is a somewhat unusual protocol, so here we will attempt to explain how it works.

Passive FTP is the most common type of FTP traffic.  With Passive FTP, a data transfer is initiated by port 21 on the client.  The data transfer then takes place between high ports on the server and high ports on the client machine.  High ports are the port range of 1024-65535, otherwise known as unprivledged ports.  Use of high ports is now common among most internet services, so this applies to more than just FTP.  Since the client initiates both connections, this prevents most firewalls from filtering the incoming data port connection to the client from the server.

FTP is unique in that it has a second mode that does not require communications with the server's high ports.  This is called active mode, and it allows direct communications between port 20 on the server and the high ports on client machines for data transfer.  By default, the data port of the FTP client is the same high numbered port that the control connection originated from.  Use of active FTP allows for stricter firewall rules, as well as the option of rerouting FTP traffic.

For more information about FTP, please see this article in our knowledge base:

http://www.netmax.com/fom/cache/223.html

4. NetMAX Support Holiday Hours
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The NetMAX Support Center will be closed from November 27-30 for the U.S. holiday weekend.  Orders received after 2pm on Wednesday, November 26 will not be shipped until normal hours resume on December 1st.  Thanks for your patience, and Happy Thanksgiving from the NetMAX team!

5. Let's Hear From You!
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We would very much like to hear from you. Tell us how you use NetMAX and Linux in your business... or what you would like to see in NetMAX 5... or maybe even what you'd like us to add to the Personal Tutor! You can contribute your input to the NetMAX Forum:

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

or to our general NetMAX contact form:

http://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 Server you would like to see as we continue to develop the NetMAX line.

Thank you!