Server Acceleration:
Threshold Networks on the Brink of Success

If your web servers sit at the edge of the Internet, does that make your ISP a fringe player? One serve appliance maker could turn your view from the ledge into profit.

by Jeff Goldman [December 12, 2000]

Threshold Networks was founded in 1999 by a group of former systems administrators who wanted to create the solutions they'd dreamed of having available to them back in the old days.

After a year or so of research and development, they recruited a top notch management team to lead their charge into the server appliance market in October. In November, Threshold Networks introduced its new suite of server appliances aimed at—as the company's slogan puts it—empowering the edge of the Internet.

EDGE Web, EDGE Cache and EDGE IP are complete software solutions crafted for quick and straightforward integration into a network. Each appliance is designed to take about fifteen minutes to set up.

Poised on the edge
Jon Miller, Threshold Network chief executive officer, stresses that its server appliances are unique because Most companies are focused on delivering solutions at the core or in the last mile.

"Our positioning is at the edge—single-function appliances that create wire-speed content management solutions," Miller said.

All three appliances contain Intel Pentium III processors, and include hot-swappable Ultra160 SCSI hard drives, PCI RAID controllers, dual Ethernet ports, front-mounted dual redundant power supplies, and PC133 ECC SDRAM. Each unit also includes LCD panels for easy configuration and administration.

The Apache-based EDGE Web is a full server appliance, which offers a complete range of web management functions including NAT, email, web forms processing, an FTP server, an integrated firewall, and two dialup ports. EDGE Web logs all usage data, and includes a number of management applications that track and maintain the flow of content.

EDGE Cache is an ICP-enabled proxy cache server appliance, which supports FTP, gopher, WAIS and HTTP objects. The solution includes a full range of management features including user authentication and access control, and statistical reporting and analysis. EDGE Cache units can also be clustered with other cache servers to maximize uptime and performance.

Finally, the EDGE IP appliance integrates DNS, DHCP and IP address management to provide a full-featured IP management solution, which can support an unlimited number of IP addresses. The appliance comes with a variety of DNS and DHCP application software, including a browser-based management platform that can produce a graphical view of the entire IP addressing structure.

Challenge from the fringe
Miller said the Edge IP appliances could really take a beating, claiming that taking it to the edge with Threshold Networks would have thwarted recent service disruptions at Excite@Home.

"They had a system-wide failure because their IP boxes failed. We actually tested ours to where it successfully managed 17,000 DNS addresses and never failed once," Miller said. "If somebody's managing greater than 17,000 domain names, I'd like to know-so that we can test our product on it."

Vying for market share
Right now, Threshold Networks' Edge lineup is relatively unique, but the market for these appliances is growing—and growing fast. The Internet research firm IDC predicts that the server appliance market could rake-in $12 billion by 2004. Sun Microsystems clearly agrees—in September Sun acquired server appliance manufacturer Cobalt Networks for $2 billion. There is obviously room to move in the server appliance arena and a few new entrants are scrambling to pickup a piece of the market now.

Threshold Networks' chief rival in the server appliance space is Cobalt Networks, with its Qube, RaQ, CacheRaQ2, and VelociRaptor products. Graced by Sun's reputation and financing, the Cobalt lineup may soon migrate to a Solaris platform, which could prove to be a significant advantage over Threshold Networks hardware.

But Miller believes that price and quality will continue to keep ISPs loyal to the Edge lineup and continue to bring new customers to its fold.

"We have actually created a dramatically superior hardware product and added a superior software component as well," Miller said. "Our appliances are much more stable, much more scalable-and we've allowed for redundancy within the box—they haven't, and they cost more."

Pricing varies based on features and a number of other variables, including processor speed, memory, etc. But in general terms, Miller's right—Threshold's prices are slightly lower than Cobalt's, and they're much less than those of other competitors like CacheFlow. Pricing for the EDGE Web appliance starts at $1,995 for while EDGE Cache and EDGE IP prices start at $2,995.

Cutting edge
According to Miller, integrating a variety of software solutions with server appliance hardware is the key to Threshold's ability to stand out in this market.

"Most server technology today does not have the layer of software that we provide," Miller said. "With our feature set, system administrators get all the tools they need to effectively manage their networks."

"There are certainly other web servers out there," Miller added. "The distinguishing factor for Threshold Networks is that we discuss web appliances from the perspective of hardware-software interactivity." In doing so, Miller contends that the company's dedication to server appliances can only work to its advantage.

"It's a matter of focus," he said. "We're building a direct sales force that creates content management solutions—that's all we're focused on. And ours is a fully integrated solution—it's got its own database, its own software, its own hardware. Its been tested end-to-end, and it's going to work for you."

— End    

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