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Network Appliances - Overview
The term "network appliance" brings to mind a concept of simplicity. Like a household appliance, the network appliance is easy to set up and performs a specific function with little or no user operation required. When a consumer buys a household appliance - a toaster, for example - he or she simply opens the box, plugs it in and begins making toast. Network appliances bring the same kind of convenience, simplicity and reliability. When a software vendor sells a program to a customer, the customer usually buys either a box of CDs or a link to a website where the software can be downloaded. In either case, the customer is required to install the software, go through a series of configuration steps, register the product online or offline, update to the latest version, then finally launch the application and begin using it. Appliances, on the other hand, aim to take away some of the burden of installation and maintenance from already overworked IT departments. Network appliances are, like a toaster, simply unpacked, plugged in and turned on. (Actually there are a few more steps, like setting up an IP address, setting passwords and bypass options, but the concept is the same.)Advantages of Appliance-based Software Delivery (AbSD)
- Performance
Security
Availabilty
Scalability
Not only are network appliances more convenient than distributed software or installing software on a server, they are also more reliable, less prone to user error, and easier to troubleshoot. Usually, when a network problem occurs, the IT department has to first identify whether it is a hardware or software problem. With appliances, this troubleshooting step is eliminated: is it the appliance that's causing the problem? Simply disconnect or bypass the appliance to find out.
Reliability is also a major concern, and today's network appliances are more robust than general purpose servers for several reasons. First, the appliance is customized for the specific software that will run on it. This reduces the likelihood of overloading the hardware with processing-intensive software, and leaves the burden of making sure the hardware and software do not conflict with the appliance vendor, rather than the end user's IT department.
Second, appliances can be built with a number of fail-safe features pre-installed that would not be automatically included in a general purpose server system. Features such as redundant power supply, automatic data backup and recovery, hardened operating systems and embedded security subsystems reduce the chance of device failure and provide additional peace of mind to the customer.
Perhaps most importantly, network appliances provide intangible benefits by being tangible products. In contrast to software - either delivered as a box of CDs or served as Software as a Service (SaaS) - network appliances are physical objects that the user can see and touch. This brings value to application branding because it places a visible reminder in the customer's server rack. Every time the system administrator walks by the server room and sees the appliance sitting there quietly doing its job, without him having to maintain it, his appreciation of the appliance (and its brand) grows.
Applications for AbSD
Early implementations of appliance-based software delivery included security applications, VoIP, VPN and traffic monitoring. These remain important applications for appliance-based solutions, but the list of applications is growing rapidly. One of the biggest advantages of an appliance-based solution is cost. Companies have long struggled with the cost and inconvenience of major business software implementations such as ERP, SCM, BI, etc. The prospect of going through an ERP implementation, with the huge initial cost, months of working with consulting teams to customize the software to the particular company's business processes, followed by ongoing maintenance costs when the system finally goes live, can be daunting to say the least. When software vendors saw that businesses were balking at the huge investment of time and money required for a major ERP implementation, for example, they began offering alternative solutions such as SaaS. However, SaaS has drawbacks as well. Even if software served over the Internet performs perfectly, companies do not feel like they are in control of it because it is not physically located on the premises. Additional latency, network interruptions and privacy are other crucial factors that reduce the appeal of software as a service.AbSD serves as a perfect compromise between huge business software implementations and software served from outside the company. Not only are costs drastically reduced, the device device sits at the customer's site, which eliminates the apprehension companies have of hosting their critical business information off-site. Application-specific appliances can be easily installed and up and running within minutes as opposed to months. Then the company can focus on user training and the actual running of its business, rather than focusing on shaping its business to fit with the new software.
