The Plug-and-Play Intranet

Time was, you and your colleagues shared critical information via weekly staff meetings, Post-it notes, and paper memos. Not anymore. Product plans change weekly, your colleagues work in Cincinnati or Singapore, and you are choked in e-mail but starved for key documents. Your best hope for coping gracefully lies in an intranet, an extension of your company's network that exploits the Web's slick information-sharing tricks. Essentially, you build an internal Web site that's tailor-made for storing crucial information that your company's employees can easily access. An intranet can make sharing documents a snap, whether it's the latest product information for marketing or an always-current policies manual.

Does building an intranet sound like a humongous task that only grizzled IS professionals can handle? Fortunately, it's not. A new class of plug-and-play server devices makes it easy for you to set up and maintain a basic intranet for your small business, workgroup, or department. Most of these appliances are less expensive than a desktop PC, with pricing typically under $2000, and can easily serve up to 100 users. We tested five such products for this review, with price tags ranging from $1249 to $7999.

At Your Web Service

Intranets-in-a-box are designed as complete bundles of hardware and software, with automated setup and clear documentation that puts the project within reach of regular folks. They lack a keyboard, monitor, or mouse--instead taking their cues from any PC on the network. Inside each box is a processor, an operating system, a hard disk, memory, Web server software, and most or all of the other software needed to run an intranet site.

The five intranet machines here come with other applications such as tools for Web authoring, e-mail, and group discussions, plus tools for the intranet administrator and users in general. Most could be used as a public Web server but aren't designed for that role. One exception is Data General's powerful Thiin Line SiteStak Web Server. The versatile Whistle InterJet 100 includes Web browsing, e-mail, and even a network hub. We didn't run formal benchmarks, but in informal tests, all delivered almost instant intranet access on our sample workgroup. Performance shouldn't be an issue unless you plan to serve hundreds of employees.

Can You Roll Your Own?

Until these little beasts came along, setting up even a simple intranet was daunting, even if you had in place the basic infrastructure--an existing network running TCP/IP, and employees all outfitted with Web browsers. You needed to buy and install a reasonably powerful PC or low-end server, install Web-server software, build the intranet site with a Web authoring tool, and then grapple with a host of logistical issues. This route demanded plenty of expertise, time, and money.

Intranet appliances can blow away these obstacles. Our hands-on tests showed that they allow average users to set up an intranet--if the machines go onto a properly configured TCP/IP-aware net. If you've set up a PC for Internet access, you already know most of the basics (see "Web Appliance Installation 101").

Ease of installation differs by product. In some cases, wizards and automated configuration make intranet setup a reasonable project for most experienced PC users. Other appliances require fairly in-depth knowledge of networking and Internet technicalities. Things get particularly tricky if your network doesn't set IP addresses via a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol service.

Once your intranet is up, you must decide on directory structures and other document-sharing issues. And you'll need to make sure you train your colleagues in its use. While the EazyPrint feature on Microtest's WebZerver makes quick work of posting content, other devices require familiarity with FTP uploads and other Net arcana.

Pick the Right Appliance

We tested Cisco Micro Webserver 200, Cobalt Qube, Data General Thiin Line SiteStak Web Server, Microtest Web-Zerver, and Whistle InterJet 100. Two similar products were not reviewed: Compact Devices' Twister is no longer marketed to users, and Encanto's e.Go server hadn't shipped.

Which is the right product for you? That depends on many factors, including the size of your business and your application needs. The Whistle InterJet 100 is the ideal choice for a network with less than 25 users because of its no-hassle setup and bundle of virtually everything you need--including Internet access, Web site hosting, and e-mail. For larger intranets, the InterJet 120 and 200 provide the same features with extra muscle. If all you need is a powerful intranet site for up to 100 users, the Microtest WebZerver wins hands down with its easy administration and wide variety of built-in software. And for businesses requiring a large intranet and a server for a public Web site, the Data General Thiin Line SiteStak is the only choice here.