Q. What is all this talk about Internet Appliances?

A. The Internet appliance is opening new possibilities to share information and services for millions of people around the globe. The talk is redefining the PC paradigm into easier to use, less costly and easier to maintain devices to access the Internet.

Q. What is an Internet Appliance?

A. The Internet appliance, network appliance, information appliance and access appliance are all terms now being used more frequently. They refer to alternatives to desktop computers on a network. These new terms are used because appliances are geared to become high-volume, affordable devices, such as the television or microwave.

Q. What does the Internet Appliance do?

A. The role of the Internet appliance is not as diverse as the desktop computer. However, it may be used as a network interface, or a point-of-entry device, between the Internet or Intranet, customer or business locations network, and consumer or business equipment. The IA (Internet Appliance) alleviates the difficulties associated with configuring a network connection or connection to the Internet.

Q. What problems does the Internet appliance attempt to solve?

A. Internet appliances are designed to deliver one or more Internet-based services in a low cost easy to use package. These services range from web appliances to more specialized things such as naming and IP addressing. These appliances are geared towards both businesses new to Internet protocols and applications, and more experienced personnel who want to deploy applications quickly, without added configuration or support problems.

Q. Are Internet appliances a complement to, or substitution for, my existing Internet access, solutions?

A. They can be complementary or substitutes, depending on your specific needs. Using an appliance may be a cost-effective replacement for several individual dial-up accounts, but you may still want to host your small business web site at your Internet Service Provider. However, the appliance may be easier to use for developing your electronic commerce solution if your host does not provide secure virtual storefront features and support.

Q. Are all Internet Appliances the same?

A. No, yet there are similarities. The one thing all Internet appliances share is a display that at minimum shows information, a network interface, and a means to control and interact with the device. Usually they rely on common multimedia formats, such as JPEG, GIF, WAV (Waveform Audio Format, July 1993), AU (SUN Audio File Format, 1992), and MPEG. They use standard Internet protocols, including Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), User Datagram Protocol (UDP), File Transfer Protocol (FTP), Network File System (NFS), Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), telnet and more.

Q. Are Internet appliances suited for enterprise computing?

A. Yes, they can offer several benefits, particularly when it comes to overburdened Information Systems (IS) support staff to deploy new computing resources. When setting up Internet access for multiple locations, appliances can be used in place of maintaining dial-in terminal servers with specialized operating systems. Task-centric devices can access the Internet and improves efficiency and time management.

Q. Are Internet appliances suitable in home offices?

A. Yes. This is another ideal use. They can offer Internet access for multiple systems with unprecedented ease of use. People that are new to setting up network file or other common services can also use them. They may prove to be the most cost-effective way to set up a virtual storefront and conduct e-commerce on the Internet.

Q. Do Internet appliances offer cost savings, and how can investment in such products be cost-justified?

A. Appliances can be free or at best cost about the same as an inexpensive PC, on the order of $1,000- $2,000. Because they are simple to set up and operate, they have lower cost of ownership. Appliances also avoid the issue of matching hardware to software as you upgrade.

Q. How intuitive is an Internet appliance for my end users? My daily network operations staff? What is the learning curve?

A. Most end users will experience minimal intrusion. They will take to using these appliances quickly, and in some cases won't even recognize them as different from ordinary software-based web servers or standard network file servers.

Q. Does the Internet appliance require changes to existing desktop operating system software?

A. No. In fact, most appliances are stand-alone. Appliances can save you from the need to have additional server software at all. Features of these appliances can be configured almost instantly over an IP network connection.

Q. Can Internet appliances be deployed in multi-protocol and NOS environments?

A. Yes, although not every device supports protocols beyond TCP/IP. Certainly, IP is the common language among all appliances.

Q. How secure is an Internet appliance for online transactions?

A. This is security at it's finest in that all the hardware is engineered for this purpose.