Say "server" and people generally think boxes powerful enough to run global corporations. Why would anyone replace this "big and powerful" hardware with "small and cute" servers? Cost First, examine the cost of servers needed for various purposes. Large companies need plenty of server horsepower to support thousands of internal employees and potentially millions of daily visitors over the Internet. Statistically, however, most companies average hundreds of Web hits per day, compared with the few international companies handling millions of hits per hour. Why pay for millions of hits when realistically you are only going to get thousands? Demand Second, small companies or remote offices with two dozen or fewer employees don't place a high demand on their servers. Again, why purchase a server to handle the demands of several thousand employees you will never have? Technical Complexity Third, high power still means high complexity. Technical expertise gravitates toward high cost and away from small companies. Small companies struggle to get technical support and demand easier-to-use systems. Even large companies with adequate technical support face a personnel crunch servicing remote offices. Hardware and software bundling in server appliances help smaller businesses get the required services conveniently and inexpensively. Our appliance unit runs on Linux, which brings the overall costs down even more. Trading hardware expansion capabilities for properly matched hardware and software and preconfigured services makes sense for many companies. However, don’t assume that our appliance unit isn’t powerful enough to satisfy the needs of most mid range companies. The business appliance, powered by open source development, can support up to 300 simultaneous users surfing the internet and 400,000 e-mails per day. Today, when general-purpose networks boast a dozen monster quad-servers in a rack-mounted cluster weighing 400 kg; small and targeted appliances offer an elegant alternative in the right situation. test