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Linux Business Hardware

Axentra Rumba Server - Home Do-It-All Box 168

Posted by michael from the looking-for-completely-silent-operation dept.
JigSaw writes "OSNews has an exclusive article on a new Linux-based server appliance product -- the first in the family -- the Axentra Rumba Server. The product is to be launched soon, but details of it have being leaked out already: The device has a mini ITX mobo, VIA C3 800 MHz CPU, 256 MB RAM, 40 GB hdd, USB 1.1, 2 LAN ports and in 1 WAN port (extra Wi-Fi USB device required). The device is useful as an Internet Gateway (DNS, IP filtering, Port forwarding, NAT firewall), as a network service (web server, file server, WebDAV, IMAP/SMTP, Samba, Content/Spam Filtering, photo album). It has an embedded web server so you can administer it via your web browser. It is compatible with Linux, Macs and Windows."
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Axentra Rumba Server - Home Do-It-All Box More

Axentra Rumba Server - Home Do-It-All Box

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  • Cobalt Cube? (Score:5, Informative)

    by GrouchoMarx ( 153170 ) on Saturday October 04, 2003 @05:37AM (#7131414) Homepage
    Is it just me, or does this thing sound exactly like the Cobalt Cube from a few years back? It ran a modified Red Hat, was an "Internet appliance" turn-key box, and did all the fun router/web server/email server/file server stuff with just a simple interface.

    What's old is new again, I suppose.

    • Re:Cobalt Cube? (Score:3, Insightful)

      by tgrasl ( 607606 )
      It is very similar in idea to the cube but, as the article says, the cube was too expensive to really atract home users - and we can only hope that this box isn't. Although whether a home user really wants this kind of thing is another question

      • Re:Cobalt Cube? (Score:2, Insightful)

        by Daengbo ( 523424 )
        Well, it's from the HomeBase guys, OEOne, so they are keeping the same target market. I do like the "Best viewed with Mozilla" at the bottom, though.

      • Re:Cobalt Cube? (Score:4, Insightful)

        by zmooc ( 33175 ) <{ten.coomz} {ta} {coomz}> on Saturday October 04, 2003 @06:24AM (#7131507) Homepage
        Not only was it too expensive, it was too early. Linux was little known with home users back then and ADSL and cable was a lot less common so it didn't really take of. Apart from that, there is market for all-in-one routers/firewall/* for SOHO-use nowadays and since this box is basicly that with a few extras, it'll have a lot easier time than the Cube.
        • Not only was it too expensive, it was too early. Linux was little known with home users back then [...]

          None of them are going to care what it runs, only whether or not it works.

    • Re:Cobalt Cube? (Score:3, Informative)

      by spinlocked ( 462072 )
      It's similar, authough the qube is arguably more suited to file serving than this box, because it has a pair of mirrored disks and a SCSI controller to allow the addition of an external tape drive.

    • s it just me, or does this thing sound exactly like the Cobalt Cube from a few years back? It ran a modified Red Hat, was an "Internet appliance" turn-key box, and did all the fun router/web server/email server/file server stuff with just a simple interface.

      Ahh yes... I have one of those... My trusty Sun Cobalt Qube. I run three domains with it over my cable modem...The cpu utilization has never been over like 20% for any extended period. It is quite the little workhorse, at only 450 mhz...

      I fail to see

      • Re:Cobalt Cube? (Score:4, Informative)

        by rthille ( 8526 ) <web-slashdot@ran g a t .org> on Saturday October 04, 2003 @12:24PM (#7132755) Homepage Journal
        450MHz is overkill? Heck, That's a P3 (or compatible) right? My Qube2 is just 250MHz Mips R4000 (compatible), and though it's running NetBSD (arguably less efficient than Linux, at least on i386), it's typically 95%+ idle, serving as a mail and web server (even running Zope).

      • Re:Cobalt Cube? (Score:2, Informative)

        by yomegaman ( 516565 )
        I just found the VIA C3 800MHz on pricewatch for $34, I'm sure those guys get them for much less in quantity. Using something slower would cut approximately $0 from the price, so I don't see how it would make any sense to do so.
      • Well, since it is running linux, it may be possible to run a small game server off it as well. I'm not sure how well the VIA cpu will handle it, but since a dedicated server doesn't do any of the graphics processing, it may have a chance.

  • "in 1 WAN port"? (Score:5, Informative)

    by JessLeah ( 625838 ) on Saturday October 04, 2003 @05:39AM (#7131421)
    First of all, the "in" seems extraneous? Secondly, doesn't "WAN" mean "WIDE Area Network", not "WIRELESS Area Network"? I thought the term for 802.x1 type stuff is "WLAN"? (Wireless Local Area Network)
    • Yeah, sounds to me like the writer of that article messed up. This device is being marketed as a multi-purpose device, and one of the purposes is as a firewall. If it's intended for that, you would expect it to have a clearly-labeled uplink port. On my home firewall/router box, the uplink port is labeled "WAN".

      Maybe it can also serve as a wireless access point if you attach a USB WiFi adapter. But mentioning that right next to mentioning the extra Ethernet jack is just weird.

      steveha

  • Wait and See (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Omega037 ( 712939 ) on Saturday October 04, 2003 @05:40AM (#7131424)
    I am curios to see just how popular such a device is. I am not sure who the exact target would be. Anyone highly skilled or professional level could just build and setup their own with more stuff at a cheaper price. Those who don't have much computer skills will never hear of or have any need for this device. I guess if it is cheap enough so that someone would rather buy it then take the time to build one themselves, it could do well. My personal opinion is that it won't be priced low enough. They will sell a few, but not a ton.

    • Slashdot overestimates how many build their own... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by MyNameIsFred ( 543994 ) * on Saturday October 04, 2003 @07:01AM (#7131572)
      In my view, there is a tendency on Slashdot to overestimate the number of people who build their own systems. I work with many technically literate people. A large number of whom are willing to install wireless networks, put an new video card in their computers, etc.

      But very few build whole computers from scratch. They don't view it as worth their effort. They would rather buy an off-the-shelf system, and maybe add a little memory. A year down the road put in a bigger hard drive...

      My point, the vast majority of technically literate people DON'T build their own from scratch.

      • Re:Slashdot overestimates how many build their own (Score:5, Insightful)

        by cide1 ( 126814 ) on Saturday October 04, 2003 @10:14AM (#7132114) Homepage
        I work with a bunch of embedded applications developers, and I know of only one other guy who builds his own machine. First off, they view their time as valuable. Every minute they can spend with their families is worth it, and building a machine can be time consuming. Pricing out parts, and getting up to date knowledge can take a lot of research. Second, as people get older, it seems they just don't want to mess with it. This is synonymous to old cars. Young people will tend to buy cars and restore them, while many older people will prefer to buy the car already restored. It costs more money, but they don't have to mess with it. Finally, with computers, when you buy legal software, I don't think you save any money when building your own, and most people want the warranties and one source of support that come with someone like Dell.
        • The reason I don't build boxes anymore is economics. Back when I could build a system for a grand that was comparable to a $1500 OEM box, or save money by leaving off things I didn't need (first computer had no sound card), it was worth it. Plus my time wasn't worth as much--no family, low-paying job. Now, I can get a 2.2 GHz Dell with a 17" CRT for $499 (dell.com/tv) or I can go around and buy a bunch of parts for about the same amount, spend a couple hours putting it all together, hope you got all the jum
      • I generally tell people not to build their own/use a prebuilt system. Why? Because new machines are generally ATX and because they can get a support contract, which means they're not calling me whenever anything fails. Sure, I still get harassed for software issue, but friends and relatives aren't expecting me to come out and swap their video card for them. The exception is my father, who has been placed at the end of my upgrade queue. When I upgrade, my girlfriend gets my old system (or video card or whate
      • Even I have really only *built* one PC - and that was out of spare parts. My desktop (now an Athlon 900) was merely upgraded a few times... from a 4.77Mhz XT. Although I did use to take said XT to bits and then put it back together again - does that count as building?
    • A lot of companies believe they get a better deal with pre-built, or (in this case) pre-configured computers. They have a good point. Regardless of how good your employees are, they can still make mistakes. Much more likely to make a mistake than a company like Axentra, and at least Anextra gives them a warranty.

      I saw this thing in TigerDirect and thought, "oh great, another netpliance". Then I turned the page. Machines like this aren't made for home users. I'd really like to know what this thing does t
      • Or for companies who look for and buy anything that solves their problem, THEN look at the price. Unfortunately, that seems to be most companies.
      • Speaking as a geek-wannabe with more money than skill, you're probably right. Currently I'm running my home webserver on an old G4 with OS X client. I'd like to do more, i.e., run my own imap server, webdav, maybe a DNS (if I understood why I should run my own DNS server), but I'm at the limits of my current knowledge and skills. I've thought about upgrading to OS X server, as I understand it makes setting up those services a snap. This presents me with another alternative, and possibly a better choice. A l

  • test server (Score:1, Informative)

    by Michael's a Jerk! ( 668185 )
    One is running Here [ruppell.com] so slashdot it please - it needs stress testing.
    • I would guess that it is pretty hard to bring down any machine serving a 1k text only static page. You might stress test your BW before the server.

  • GOOD! (Score:2, Insightful)

    by IdleLay ( 682465 )
    Most linux/*bsd buff can build one of these on any given sunday. But it is great to see a consumer oriented device targetted at home (mainly windows) users that offers what was once only available to geeks to the mass market... well I for one hope it takes off anyway.

    • Re:GOOD! (Score:3, Insightful)

      by the uNF cola ( 657200 )
      Considering the low cost of the software, wouldn't it be silly NOT to use a premade solution? It surprises me when some companies insist on writing their own software when there is a solution around, and when they don't when their needs are too custom.

      This type of stuff is what MS is really afraid of. People using OSS vs WinCE/ME/NT.

  • Personal server (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Spy Hunter ( 317220 ) on Saturday October 04, 2003 @05:44AM (#7131436) Journal
    This seems like a pretty cool little device. Maybe with appliances like these more people will start to get interested in hosting their own website on their DSL/Cable connection, or doing other "server" type stuff. I really dislike how the Internet today is seen as just a place to visit web pages. Maybe with a simple server appliance people will get the idea that they can publish stuff on the web and share stuff with their friends and family that way. They could even have it run things like a jabber server. Wouldn't that be cool? What this company would do if they were smart is automatically give everyone who buys one of these a dynamic DNS account, so your little server could have its own permanent address with no configuration necessary.
    • You better check your TOS. Such a thing will certainly violate 99.9% of all non business type accounts with internet service providers. The personal part is so you can serve stuff on your side of the firewall.

      • Re:Personal server (Score:1, Interesting)

        by Anonymous Coward
        Dunno about the US of A, but most UK ADSL providers (ADSL being the primary "broadband" here) seem to let you do what you want with your connection. For $38/month (Eclipse) I have 8 static IPs, absolutely no restrictions on bandwidth, ports, hosting, etc. The only think restricting me from putting up lots of servers is that I happen to have chosen the contended 512k/256k product, but that's not the only option.

        Maybe, then, this device would be popular in the UK. In my case, I prefer to build my own server

      • You better check your TOS. Such a thing will certainly violate 99.9% of all non business type accounts with internet service providers.
        Whatever else you may feel about SBC, their TOS specifically permit you to run servers.
      • Right, and what is the reason people put up with TOS like this? It is exactly because almost nobody cares about running a server, because they see the Internet as nothing more than a way to browse webpages and get email. Only us geeks care. But if running a small server becomes popular, so that it becomes one of the main reasons people buy Internet service, people will start to take notice of things like this, and the ISPs will have no choice but change their TOS to allow servers, and make their services
    • You mean .Mac? :) Does all that, without having to run a server in your home, and possible get suspended for having a server.
      • I gave up on .mac and set up an old G4 as my home webserver. It's free, I'm in control, and I've learned a lot. Tell me, what scripts can you run on .mac? Does .mac support perl? mySQL? Note: I don't actually use mySQL for my website, although I could if I wanted! Anyway, don't confuse .mac with having your own webserver. You've got a web host, and one that is very lame in some ways, very cool in others.

        • I gave up on .mac and set up an old G4 as my home webserver. It's free, I'm in control, and I've learned a lot. Tell me, what scripts can you run on .mac? Does .mac support perl? mySQL?

          I have both .Mac and my own 24/7/365 Linux server on an old G4. I have .Mac host most of my content since my DSL upstream is only 128Kbps (as are most upstream caps). To run CGIs or other scripts, I simply have the web pages on .Mac point to my home server. That tiny bit of upstream bandwidth can be handled no problem.

    • Maybe with a simple server appliance people will get the idea that they can publish stuff on the web and share stuff with their friends and family that way


      Would having thousands of servers with exactly the same configuration and hardware be a good thing. We've seen what happens when problems are found in today's servers. Sure, it would be easy to fix them all with one patch, but even people that run servers today don't patch them up as much as they should... Would the average user running an out-of-the
  • 1 WAN port (extra Wi-Fi USB device required)

    1 WAN port (and 2 LAN ports). What the hell is a WAN port? Is it ethernet or not? Is it just slow 10 mbps ethernet rather than something faster? And why the hell require an extra Wi-Fi device? And if it has to be USB (I'm guessing because there are no slots, or no slots available), then why put USB 1.1 on a new product when the rest of the world is dealing with USB 2? Particularly when current Wi-Fi (802.11g) is a lot faster than the ill-conceived USB 1.1?

    • The "WAN" port is just a NIC interface for connecting to you cable modem/ xDSL modem I bet. So they are calling it a WAN port. It's a consumer appliance so they figure they will call it some thing incorrect and really confuse people. "Connecgt your cable/adsl modem to the WAN port and your computers to either of the provided LAN ports." Or some such instructions.

    • And if it has to be USB, then why put USB 1.1 on a new product when the rest of the world is dealing with USB 2?

      'Cause the board is cheaper [mini-itx.com]. Also, it's the fastest fanless model. Having said that, I agree. If I bought something like this, fast connection to an external backup drive would be a must.
    • Of course it's ethernet.

    • What the hell is a WAN port? Is it ethernet or not?

      It's an Ethernet port that's configured to be connected to your cable/DSL/whatever to access the rest of the world. Since this thing's acting as a firewall, I assume it's like the 486SLC-40 I turned into a Linux Router Project box a few years ago. I had two NICs in it, and labeled the back of the case LAN and WAN.

      The distinction between WAN port and LAN port is that someone coming in from the WAN side is assumed to be a script kiddie until proven oth

    • What the hell is a WAN port?

      A WAN interface is an interface that connects you to a larger routed network. Traditionally, that's your nailed up line (T-1/leased-line/Frame connection/etc). A WAN port is an open slot, usually on a router or similar appliance, that you can use to insert a card for handling a connection as above. As others have indicated, this could potentially be used for your DSL connection by just putting an ethernet card in it. However the article seems to indicate that this is a US

  • A stepping stone? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by mphase ( 644838 ) on Saturday October 04, 2003 @05:46AM (#7131443) Homepage
    This seems like it could be a good stepping stone for more advanced Windows users to discover Linux. As long as the price isn't too much greater than what it would cost to build you own, I could see this creating it's own little market.
    • Example A:

      My exploits so far:

      - P-Pro150 (overclocked to 180 woo!) RedHat 7.2 install. Died in a week due to dead hard drive.

      - RH 8 on a P3 800 (work) that had a bad BIOs, Windows crashed when using the IDE channels. It worked as a spam filter for a while before a faster machine was needed. (I just installed, didn't do the software setup.)

      - Knoppix CDs burned and passed out to tech pals, used for diagnosis and getting critical files off dead OS on NTFS. Plus sorta fun to play with. Got stumped by net
      • Made this out of curiosity, wanting to read logs of my cable modem, why are the lights blinking all the time, even when my router is _off_.
        So why were they blinking?
  • The Rumba with a samba server. First slashdot was making it too easy, now these guys?

    That's it. I give up.

  • Not enough space for porn requirements! (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 04, 2003 @06:08AM (#7131481)
    I mean we all know that "photo album" is really just "porn collection" in disguise.

    But does it run Li.... Oh.

  • Knoppix, Morphix any LiveCD would be as good. (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Definitely cheaper, and by my reckoning, better by far. Better in the sense that you could put that wasted hard drive money into RAM. If the thing is to act as a server you don't want it reading off a hard drive anyway. Skip the hard drive and add a Gig of RAM and you could still be less than two hundred bucks with all new parts. If someone bought one of these and then you showed them the right way to do it with a LiveCD, they'd feel like they had been ripped off.
    Once you get past ten gigs or so, the
    • I dunno... I'd be using a hard drive in any server. Using a server for file storage makes a whole lotta sense, especially if you have several interchangeable workstations. I'd get fed up with not being able to store files on it.

      Also, what's the point of using it as an http/samba/webdav server if it has no hard drive? It's got nothing to serve...

  • Yes! It's both firewall and giant security hole! (Score:4, Insightful)

    by jerryasher ( 151512 ) on Saturday October 04, 2003 @06:10AM (#7131486)
    Wel according to the article the machine offers nothing to make configuring the firewall (IP Filtering + NAT) easy or foolproof.

    So what do we got? Not much more than cheapo walmart pc and distro.

    We got a linux based firewall running on the same machine as the files and photos and everything else.

    What the hell is the difference between this and any other linux machine?

    It certainly won't make security or sysadmin any easier.

    It's a home linux nightmare waiting to happen. Can't wait.
    • The difference between this and any other linux machine is a small footprint, high cost, no video card, and (hopefully) quiet operating.
    • Mod parent up (I have no points right now).

      I set up a Xandros box and (stupidly) left it exposed to the outside world without shutting down all of the default services. It being Debian based, and hence having apt, I kept the software up to date with all the patches from security.debian.org. Not good enough. About a week later someone came in through a service (which was not part of the standard Debian distro) meant for system administration that had the port open to * (as opposed to 127.0.0.1).

      The less

  • Wheezer Sneezer (Score:1, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Everyone sign along: "Rumba, Roomba, let's call the whole thing off!"

    Ah! I've got it! All techy things in the new millenium have to rhyme, and not just once, multiple times!

    Romper Stomper Bomper Boo, buy my crap -hey buy two!

    Magic mirror, I see dead people. Ooops. Too much genre blending.

  • Good old Roomba (Score:3, Funny)

    by segment ( 695309 ) <sil@po l i t r i x .org> on Saturday October 04, 2003 @06:22AM (#7131502) Homepage Journal
    Good old Roomba [roombavac.com]. Saved me from back pain plenty a times... You did mean the vacuum didn't you?

  • Appliance good, but mini-itx has fallen short (Score:1, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward
    What I would like is that Via come out with some more powerfull proccessors. Their 1 gig is only about equal to a 700 celeron, and depending on what it is actually doing it can get beat out with a 300Mhz pentium in bench marks.

    I love the small formfactor stuff. If you got a vid card, sound card, networking card, and 1 or 2 pci slots, what more do you need for a desktop computer??

    And I was wanting to build one, but a 2.2ghz celeron with a low-end mini-atx motherboard is cheaper then a mini-ITX 800mhz C3 mo
    • And I was wanting to build one, but a 2.2ghz celeron with a low-end mini-atx motherboard is cheaper then a mini-ITX 800mhz C3 motherboard and 10x more capable.

      I suppose it depends on where you are looking. By cheaper the price comparison's I've found are only about $10 difference. However there are other design considerations as well. For the purpose this is intended (home firewall, web server and file server) 800MHz is overkill. I'm writing my dissertation on a 950MHz VIA EPIA with OpenOffice and 95
  • Useful as a file server with only 40GB HDD? I can't see that taking off...

  • Home Linux Firewalls (Score:4, Informative)

    by Jonah Hex ( 651948 ) <hexdotms AT gmail DOT com> on Saturday October 04, 2003 @06:46AM (#7131545) Homepage Journal
    I'd much rather take an older computer and throw ClarkConnect [clarkconnect.org] on it. Comparing the feature list above with CC's features:

    Security
    * Stateful Firewall * Intrusion detection with Snort * Secure shell via SSH * IPsec VPN (Office Edition only) * PPTP VPN (Office Edition only)
    Web Server
    * Apache web server * Support for CGI and PHP * Secure/SSL support
    File Services
    * Journalled file system with ext3 * FTP server * Windows file server * AppleShare file server
    E-mail
    * POP and IMAP servers * SMTP server
    Filtering
    * Banner ad blocking * Web proxy * Content filtering (Office Edition only)
    Printing
    * Print server support * Printer sharing for Samba/Windows networks
    Easy Configuration
    * Web-based configuration* Optional Webmin package
    Network Support
    * DSL (including PPPoE) * Cable Modem * 802.11b Wireless (Office Edition only) * Internal DHCP server * Caching nameserver

    There's a few not listed on the quick info page, such as Gallery and SpamAssassin, but you get the picture. Not to say that you couldn't add on to the software on the Rumba, after all it is Linux based, but who says they'll make it easy for you to do so. I have no problems adding new goodies to my ClarkConnect box, such as a NWN and TeamSpeak server for my gaming friends or SliMP3 server for around the house music, and I wouldn't give that up.

    To give fair time to two other Linux firewall distros I've used in the past and like almost as much as ClarkConnect, check out Smoothwall [smoothwall.org] and IPCop [ipcop.org].

    Jonah Hex

  • Already out of the bag. (Score:3, Informative)

    by GiMP ( 10923 ) on Saturday October 04, 2003 @07:44AM (#7131633)
    I think TigerDirect already let this one out of the bag. The website says that they will announce it (and it's price) soon. This week's TigerDirect catalog already has it..

    TigerDirect print ad [grokthis.net]

    The ad specifically mentions that it supports WiFi wireless networking /w any standard usb->wireless adapter. WiFi is NOT standard.

    • Re:Already out of the bag. (Score:3, Informative)

      by GiMP ( 10923 )
      To avoid people simply wondering about the price from slashdotting me:
      $499.99

      If you're ordering one, tell TigerDirect Item # A555-1000
  • Is it just me, or does this thing sound exactly like the e-Smith server/Internet gateway from a few years back?

    It ran a modified Red Hat, was an "Internet appliance" turn-key CD-ROM for any recent x86 box, & did all the fun router/web server/email server/file server stuff with just a simple web interface.

    What's old is new again, I suppose.
  • Googling around, we even found a test server for the Axentra Rumba Server. Go on, give it some stress testing!

    Ummm... they don't know us very well, do they?
  • I'm surprised there's been no mention of the Tranquil PC [mini-itx.com]. This is perhaps the quietest and sexiest mini-itx based system and the starting price is ~$600 USD.
  • Hot damn! That's pretty smooth. I love the idea of having a vacuum that can be an internet appliance as well. I guess someone had to do it eventually. What? Oh... you said Rumba not Roomba.
  • All in one server box yes, but can it vacuum your entire house on it's own?

  • Roomba Server? (Score:4, Funny)

    by SunPin ( 596554 ) <slashspam@cyberT ... com minus author> on Saturday October 04, 2003 @10:58AM (#7132319) Homepage
    I heard it sucks.
  • There are quite a few of these things out there already, with different selections of customisation of services. A specific, market-oriented example might be the KnowledgeBox [knowledgebox.com], but that in itself is customised on a more generic platform like the Kyzo [kyzo.com] or Equiinet [equiinet.com].

    The Mini-ITX hardware is a cute way to go though, if you don't mind the world of hurt which comes of trying to get the onboard VIA Rhine-II ethernet to work. At this very moment I'm part way through a Red Hat install onto a Mini-ITX which is going

  • Toshiba has had a box like this for some time. In fact I picked one up for testing for a scant $299. It was the SG20, but it still works as advertised. Not too powerful, but could work for a small workgroup. Here is a link to those boxes. [toshiba.com]

  • An idea whose time has come? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by ajs318 ( 655362 ) <sd_resp2@@@earthshod...co...uk> on Saturday October 04, 2003 @01:52PM (#7133158)
    If the idea behind this thing becomes popular, it's a matter of time before someone starts knocking out something similar on the cheap. All-in-one mobos are cheap as chips, and drivers don't seem to be as much of a problem as they used to be anymore. Stick one in a case, add a hard drive and maybe a DVD-ROM and pop your favourite distro on it. If it has TV-out, supply a SCART to phono and 3.5mm stereo lead {you may have to solder this yourself} and it'll run into any modern enough telly. A TV receiver / video capture card would make it into a tapeless VCR.

    It might need a console-based configuration utility for setting its IP address. Once that's done, and the machine is on a network, everything else can be done through a web browser with a bit of p(hp|erl|ython) scripting.

    It could firewall off your vulnerable Windows boxes from your ADSL connection, and provide a proxy to block ad.doubleclick.net and other objectionable sites. No ADSL? Then it can do on-demand dialling. It could collect your e-mail from several different servers and distribute it amongst several desktop machines - you can use POP3 to collect it and thus obviate the need for a static IP address. With the video and audio outputs, it could be a telejuke.

    And, because it's programmable, some loon will almost certainly find a use for it none of us have thought of yet.
  • the Net Integrator series... http://www.net-itech.com =8-)
  • Does it support UPnP? Many new home routers do this now, eg. Netgear, Linksys. Also, does it support socks5? A lot of application that are broken behind NAT have the ability to use SOCKS5. For example, file transfer in icq/AIM, and voice/video.
  • What, no Amiga support? Fuck it then. Why do the 99.9999% of users get all the new toys?
  • the price is $500us, not a bad deal at all.

    For bored slashdotters, HERE [ruppell.com] and HERE [tkelley.net] are 2 web servers running on these things... /. effect!

  • Rumba is a registered trademark.

    It's software product [netmanage.com] from NetManage that is close enough in functionality to this product that they would probably have a valid trademark infringement claim.

  • ad (Score:2)

    by gabe ( 6734 )
    here's the ad image as linked from osnews: http://grokthis.net/~raptor/rumba.jpg [grokthis.net]

    chock full of typos and a $499 price. not bad. (the price, not the typos)

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On the eighth day, God created FORTRAN.

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