PRODUCT EVALUATION: Internet @ppliance Industry Report

Internet @ppliance Industry Report:
A Guide to Technology,
Products, and Deployment

Technauts™ eServer.email
Workgroup/SOHO Internet email appliance offers robust set of email and mailing list services.
Price:
$699
Contact:
Technauts™
106 Pheasant Wood Court, Suite 300
Morrisville, NC 27560
Phone: US Toll Free 1-877-eServer (1-877-373-7837), (919)-462-1713
Fax: (919)-388-2060
Web: www.technauts.com

Reviewed:
May 1999

Setup and configuration

It took us about an hour to get the eServer.email configured and running in our office. There are two parts to setup: first, getting your IP networking parameters entered and then getting your users and mailboxes setup. Technauts' device has two methods for initial configuration: The one the company recommends is to run its own small software setup program, which works similarly to their web server appliance setup. Or, you can connect a PC keyboard and monitor to the box and type in the information quickly.

Features

Overall, there is a lot to like about the eServer.email. We liked the layout of the user controls and menu trees in the eServer.email. And the eServer.email has some attractive features, including that each user can consolidate email from up to three external mail accounts. The eServer.email also runs Linux: if you are conversant with this operating system, you can make whatever changes you require using a command-line interface, including the ability to use Telnet to connect to the box. (Telnet can also be disabled for improved security.)

The Technauts eServer.email also has a parameter to set an overall maximum message size limit for a single message. This comes in handy when email networks are swamped with multiple copies of annoying electronic greeting cards or other huge files that could take too long to download. You can also view the size of the mail file occupied by each user.

You can upgrade the firmware with its built-in File Transfer Protocol (FTP) server. The eServer.email walks you through the steps and Technauts has a nice feature whereby you maintain these settings after the upgrade, which is very helpful for inexperienced administrators.

Final Word
The eServer.email is a simple to setup and easy to administer email server appliance. It compares favorably in price with dedicated NT or Unix software solutions, and has a nice complement of features that can deliver Internet email to small to medium workgroups.

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