Date: Wed, 01 Sep 1999 09:17:10 -0400 From: "Francisco Reyes" <freyes@inch.com> To: "Deepwell Internet" <freebsd@deepwell.com>, "freebsd-isp@FreeBSD.ORG" <freebsd-isp@FreeBSD.ORG>, "up@3.am" <up@3.am> Cc: "apauker@cybernet.com" <apauker@cybernet.com>, "mtaylor@cybernet.com" <mtaylor@cybernet.com> Subject: Re: Cobalt like for FreeBSD? Message-ID: <199909011316.JAA23859@arutam.inch.com>
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On Tue, 31 Aug 1999 11:33:13 -0700, Deepwell Internet wrote: >...understood it, NetMAX was just a stock FreeBSD distribution with added >benefit for installation. Is this not correct? Netmax is much more than just "an installation tool". It is also more than a front end GUI. Perhaps the best way to describe it, is to compare it to a true Front End Gui:webmin. With webmin one installs FreeBSD, then you install whatever packages/ports you want to run and then you install webmin. You are basically on your own when it comes to the installation of FreeBSD, the ports/packages and webmin. It is also worth mentioning that Webmin is really more of a helper than a total solution. Just recently I spent days getting Samba to work just right.. I tried to use Webmin to help basically ended up troubleshooting and making the correction by hand. I see Webmin as a management helper, but it really doesn't help much with initial installs/configurations of the package you want to manage. On the other end Netmax integrates everything in such a way that once you install Netmax all it's functions are managed/installed through the Netmax GUI. From memory.. netmax can manage your DNS, email (pop and imap), ftp, ldap, smb (samba), the mac protocol (although I have never tried it), and Firewall. There have been minor issues that Netmax did not have when I got it, but from email I have received they have been added/corrected (i.e. name based virtual hosting). One point worth mentioning is that when you get Netmax you get a first rate team of people to help you. I have had a number of issues when I was installting Netmax, many of which had nothing to do with netmax , and they helped me to get the product installed. They have also helped me to get anything I needed which the the version of Netmax I got did not do. The online Demo gives a good idea of what Netmax can do, but I don't think one can really appreciate it's ease of use and power until one has one installed. >At 10:55 AM 8/31/99 -0400, you wrote: >>On Tue, 31 Aug 1999, Stuart Henderson wrote: >> >> > Yep, netmax (for the management interface, which would be built in to >> >> From what I can find, Netmax is strictly for Linux... >>James Smallacombe PlantageNet, Inc. CEO and Janitor >>up@3.am http://3.am This "for Linux only" image is something I have mentioned the folks at Cybernet several times (ok more than several times...<G>). They were a lot more receptive than I had expected and they did some work on the site to reflect this. I also got a very positive reply in terms of their continued support for FreeBSD. As a company they are truly first rate and all the people I have ever exchanged emails or talked to, both from the marketting and technical side, have been very helpful. Is Netmax for you? Well when I got Netmax for months I wrote to Cybernet complaining about things I wanted/needed to do which Netmax did not do. Although I don't have the latest/greatest version, which I believe is not out yet, I have been told they have fixed/added a number of the things I complained/requested. I particular the version I had out of the box, did not support very well virtualizing domains (http, ftp). With the help of tech support I was able to do the http name virtualizing behind the scenes and that has worked well. Something else I mentioned to them is the need to incorporate PHP or to somehow allow for MOD PHP in a simpler way. I am currently working on compiling Apache with MOD PHP and saving it at a separate directory to handle all external http requests. Something else which even though is very good could use some improvement is the firewall configuration. If you ever try netmax and you are familiar with firewall rules I highly recommend you DON'T even try using the pre-configured Firewall settings and use the "Custom" rules. On the other hand if you are new to firewalls you may want to start only with the pre-configured rules. Once you go to "custom rules" don't ever try to go back to use the pre-configured rules... Try looking at the online demo and you will see what I mean by "pre-configured" vs custome settings. Something else which I hope they have improved is the DNS server. It works, but it is just the basics. There are fine tuning features which are needed on the interface such as MX entries, DNS options settings (i.e. ttl). They could also make it simpler to setup a netmax box as a secondary server of a primary DNS. Their backup screens could also use some simplification. I tried once to use them and ran back to tar. <G>. Yes I know dump is better, but I have been busy to configure it and since I already have a series of shells I use with Tar this was a quick way to get the backup going. Feel free to ask me any questions. Also notice the cc to Mark Taylor (mtaylor@cybernet.com). He works for Cybernet, the maker of Netmax, and he should be able to answer any questions you may have. In closing. Netmax is great, but if you expect to run a heavily virtualized site, or plan to have the netmax as part of a big comlext network YOU WILL need to get behind the scenes and get "your hands dirty". For a simple site, specially a small office network that needs Internet connectivty, Netmax should be able to do most tasks needed right from the interface. To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-isp" in the body of the message
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