ISPPlanet Cache Review Series - NetApp NetCache C720

DHCP-Assisted Setup
At 72 pounds, the C720s has a rugged "central office" look, housed in a 5U 19-inch rack-mountable enclosure. The front panel sports a floppy, status LEDs, and an LCD that displays diagnostics during boot and Mbps thereafter. Ethernet, console, SCSI, and fibre channel ports, expansion slots and power switches are all accessible from the rear.

The C720s is shipped with a fibre channel terminator, console cables, boot floppies and CD with software license, "Easy Install Instructions", a 40-page Getting Started Guide, release notes, and a box containing Hardware Installation, Field Service, Administration, and Deployment Guides. "Easy Install" illustrates rack mounting for hardware options. The Getting Started booklet describes initial forward proxy cache and browser configuration. The current release 4.0R4 came preloaded, but we installed beta upgrade 4.1X9, downloaded from Network Appliance's NOW web site.

Initial setup requires a PC and console cable. During boot, the NetCache seeks a DHCP server for setup defaults. It then prompts for basic info (right): IP address, mask, hostname, and media type for each Ethernet port, default gateway, mail host, time zone, DNS servers, and console password. DHCP defaults can reduce data entry, but the Guide must be consulted for time zone keywords.