PC Magazine Recognizes Net Integrator as a Best
Product of 2002
January, 2003
We love it when a low-profile company
blindsides us with a killer product. Case in point:
the Net Integrator Mark 1. With two externally
accessible and removable hard drives and three
NICs, this server appliance offers everything
the small organization needs in the way of basic
services.
The Mark I includes features typically
lacking in other network server appliances, which
justifies its higher price and larger size. For
example, there are three Ethernet adapters instead
of two. The extra adapter can be used for a second
connection to the Internet complete with DoubleVision
load-leveling support. The built-in RAID support
places it above most other servers on the market.
A built-in modem provides RAS support or a serial
connection to the Internet.
Net Integrator Wins PC Magazine Editors' Choice
Award
April, 2002
Every once in a while, a low-profile
product comes along quietly and hits the mark
dead-on, to our pleasant surprise. That is precisely
the case with our Editors' Choice in this roundup,
the Net Integrator Mark I.
Its many features and easy-to-use
setup and interface clearly make it the server
appliance of choice for small to medium-size businesses
building a network.
Net Integration Technologies can
make your life easier. The Ontario-based firm
makes server appliances, but this description
doesn't correctly invoke the image of what it
does. It's a pretty amazing, all-in-one branch
server.
Think for a moment about the effort that goes
into deploying NT/2000 and Linux servers. Imagine
you have a client wanting a branch server with
email (webmail, POP3 and IMAP4). It must be at
least NT-authentication compatible as a file-and-print
server. There has to be a RAS, DNS, DHCP, LDAP-compatible
directory service, integral user-friendly backup,
FTP, Ethernet connection load-balancing, and VPN
capabilities built-in, as well as the ability
to remotely sync the server from a headquarters
location. Oh, and it has to sit on a hardened
firewall platform.
Net Integration Technologies' Net
Integrator Mark I-idb took the Editors' Choice
award in this category because it combines solid
technology with a focused channel program.
Many observers might consider the
Mark I-idb from Smart Technology Enablers, Inc. the
heavyweight contender in the server-appliance
market. Designed as a unit that packs as many
features as possible into a midsize tower case,
the Mark I-idb offers a viable server solution
for the small and midsize business market.
....based on what we found in our
review of the Net Integrator Mark II from Net
Integration Technologies, it looks like this company's
success is a sure thing.
In all, we were left feeling almost
obligated to give it our highest score of Excellent.
In fact, all of the features are
either so simple or automatic, one might think
they are not all present and ready to work. But
that's the genius of the Mark II -- everything
is already set up, and it's very difficult for
someone to configure the server incorrectly.
The Net Integrator was a joy to
use, as its interface is among the best we've
seen, updating load figures continually and performing
perfectly.....
Virtual private networks are almost
trivial to configure with Net Integrator, and
the routines among the easiest of any VPN device
we tested....
The best performer of the group
was the Net Integrator, which so overpowered the
other units that the winner of all performance
tests was crystal clear. The Net Integrator handled
eight times the number of requests handled by
others two products.... In every measure, the
Net Integrator was faster than the other devices
(Rebel.com Office Server and Cobalt Cube 3)
I'm still looking at turnkey firewall-gateway-server
solutions and am not jaded yet. A recent arrival
from Net Integration Technologies caused
a few eyebrows to go up in my testing labs, not
only because of the well-designed package, but
also because of the rather amazing benchmark figures
we recorded. But I'm jumping ahead of myself.
