Quocirca's Straight Talking: Out-of-the-box options

Specialised hardware has been around since before the word 'appliance' was uttered in IT. But what are they used for today? Quocirca's Bob Tarzey explains.

A few years ago, when the term 'appliance' first came into common use in the IT industry, comparisons were often made with domestic appliances like fridges. Comparisons soon break down; even the simplest IT appliances actually carry out pretty complex tasks compared to fridges, which just sit there being cool.

Today's appliances, though not necessarily mainstream, represent an alternative solution for everything from networking and security to core IT functions such as email.

So what exactly is an IT appliance? It's a dedicated computer optimised to carry out a specific function or set of functions. The operating system (often proprietary or a modified form of Linux or Unix) is transparent, although their interfaces need to conform to standards. They are designed to be very good at what they do, better than multipurpose computers which can be configured for a wide range of functions. However, appliances still need to be configured, often remotely, and most need regular updates to their software.

Appliances have existed since before the IT industry started using the term. Switches that control the traffic on local area networks (LANs) and routers that connect LANs to each other forming wide area networks (WANs) have been around for years. These appliances are specifically designed to do one thing well: they make sure packets of electronic data end up in the right place.

With widespread adoption of the internet in the 1990s, routers were increasingly used to connect private LANs and WANs to public networks - and the risks became greater. Security was now paramount - a new opportunity for appliances.

Appliances are ideal for network-based applications: you plug two or more wires into the appliance and the software running on it can decide what to do with the traffic that wants to pass through it. One option is to stop it dead; firewall appliances are the most common way of doing this. They delineate a private network from the public one and aim to ensure only authorised users gain access.

Malicious users seek to find ways to bypass firewalls. This has led to a proliferation of technology for checking identities of users and the content of data packets. For a while at least, a discrete IT security sector emerged, with numerous specialist vendors offering products to make networks safer; much of their technology was delivered as appliances.

However, unlike switches, routers and firewalls, not all of this technology needed to be purely network-based. Functions like virus checking, spam filtering and identity checking are required on servers and desktop PCs as well as the network. For these functions the appliance is not the de facto way of delivering an application but an additional or alternative way.

At the same time security appliances emerged, network appliances became more complex. Network vendors realised that the technology delivered by security specialists could be added to their appliances too. Instead of a couple of simple appliances, companies could use one bigger, more complicated device to carry out multiple tasks.

This has led to the big network equipment manufacturers like Cisco and Juniper snapping up smaller security-appliance specialists. To stand their ground, the broad-play security vendors like CA and Symantec have also been buying up smaller security specialists, appliance-based or otherwise. Their message is one of holistic security: making the whole of your IT infrastructure including the network more secure.

Where there is a choice of solutions, businesses need persuading to go the appliance route. Content filtering is a good example; you can choose between appliances, licensed software or outsourced solutions. An appliance can check all content coming in via the main email gateway for spam and viruses. An outsourced service can do the same thing, but before it gets anywhere near your own network; this saves bandwidth, although you give up local control.

Software on your mail server can do the same thing, but if this is the only line of defence then malicious content will likely reach the heart of the network. In reality, businesses that are successfully fighting the war against malware are using a combination of these solutions, maximising security and performance and minimising use of bandwidth. The appliance is not the whole solution but part of it.

So have appliances reached their zenith? Not if some vendors have their way.

Appliances are being built for increasingly diverse functions, beyond those of networking and security; they have become an alternative way to deliver core IT functions. While these have a long way to go before they are mainstream, they do offer companies a choice. Mirapoint's Message Server, for example, is a dedicated email appliance that's an alternative to software products like Microsoft Exchange and IBM/Lotus Domino. It has a lot of traction with internet service providers and increasing interest from enterprise and government organisations.

The latest appliances are not just for email. Ayrsoft's iconServer appliance, aimed at small and medium-sized businesses, has email, portal and even simple customer relationship management capabilities, as well as many security and networking features. ApplianSys has launched a similar product called Netbox, which includes built-in support for remote workers and synchronised backups. These products offer an alternative to packages like Microsoft's Small Business Server (SBS).

The danger with appliance is that vendors attracted by the simple messaging around them could be tempted to call anything an appliance. Why can't an Intel-based server with Microsoft SBS pre-installed on it and few extra bells and whistles be called an appliance? Because it's not optimised from the bottom up to carry out specific tasks; it is a standard server with a standard operating system.

As appliances are used to deliver more complex functionality it will be harder to optimise them to deliver the performance benefits that make them competitive - but they will still serve as an alternative for companies that want to think out of the box.