Cheap Pcs As Network Appliances

Tim Kientzle, Oakland

Stevenson Hall 1300
12:00 PM - 12:50 PM

By combining free software, such as Linux, FreeBSD, Samba, MySQL, or Apache, with low-end mass-market PCs, it's possible to build very capable servers for under $500. What's more, by packaging the software as a bootable CD-ROM, you can create a "virtual network appliance" which requires no software installation and essentially no configuration. I'll discuss some projects that are already doing this, and explain how to design and build yourown such systems.