What is a "network appliance"?

repoman0

Diamond Member
Jun 17, 2010
4,493
3,354
136
To run fancy firewall / threat monitoring software with logging and packet inspection for a whole lot of users with very high reliability and uptime.

You want one to stop all the mean hackers trying to steal the valuable secrets living in your home network of a computer and a few smartphones.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ch33zw1z

nakedfrog

No Lifer
Apr 3, 2001
58,215
12,394
136
To run fancy firewall / threat monitoring software with logging and packet inspection for a whole lot of users with very high reliability and uptime.

You want one to stop all the mean hackers trying to steal the valuable secrets living in your home network of a computer and a few smartphones.
Not to mention my precious toast secrets.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ch33zw1z

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
67,521
12,185
126
www.anyf.ca
Basically a fancy name for a server that has a dedicated purpose. Companies spend hundreds of thousands for these things and usually it's just a rebadged low spec Dell server running Linux. :D You pay for the proprietary software and the support though.
 

NoTine42

Golden Member
Sep 30, 2013
1,387
78
91
Obviously junk that will break right away. Any quality appliance is finished in stainless steel, and would match my granite countertops.
How can I entertain in my home if I have a black appliance?
 
  • Like
Reactions: PliotronX

IronWing

No Lifer
Jul 20, 2001
69,136
27,084
136
Obviously junk that will break right away. Any quality appliance is finished in stainless steel, and would match my granite countertops.
How can I entertain in my home if I have a black appliance?
As long as it stays in the kitchen, there shouldn't be an issue.
 

thebestMAX

Diamond Member
Sep 14, 2000
7,487
121
106
Obviously shoes are next. Saw some today with a built in bluetooth speaker system. Can wifi be far behind?
 

whm1974

Diamond Member
Jul 24, 2016
9,460
1,570
96
Anyone remember the "Network Computer" that was claim to have replaced the PC in the mid 90's? Or the "Internet Appliance" of 2000?
 
Feb 25, 2011
16,800
1,474
126
Anyone remember the "Network Computer" that was claim to have replaced the PC in the mid 90's? Or the "Internet Appliance" of 2000?
Yes. They were essentially the architectural equivalent of the old "dumb" terminals.

with all the cloud enabled crap we're having push nowadays, it's basically the same thing come around again. The only difference is it the company is selling the things, finally realized we wanted our dumb terminals to be powerful enough to play video games.
 

Kaido

Elite Member & Kitchen Overlord
Feb 14, 2004
48,426
5,277
136
Anyone remember the "Network Computer" that was claim to have replaced the PC in the mid 90's? Or the "Internet Appliance" of 2000?

It's amazing how quickly we forget...phones, tablets, chromebooks, and laptops are all cheap & amazing these days. People hardly remember netbooks, let alone Internet Appliances, haha! Remember these bad boys??

1200px-2008-04-25_Netpliance_i-Opener_main_menu.jpg

msntv_screen_RVportal_300.jpg
 

Red Squirrel

No Lifer
May 24, 2003
67,521
12,185
126
www.anyf.ca
Haha MSN TV. I remember hearing about that but I never actually seen it in action at all. TBH it would have been decently advanced for it's time. The idea of having TV on your computer was quite something at the time. You could get capture cards and hookup your cable to it and stuff, but it was quite niche. I remember hooking up the VCR to the computer so I can capture AND record video and I thought it was the coolest thing ever.
 

Carson Dyle

Diamond Member
Jul 2, 2012
8,174
524
126
The network appliance is designed for a variety of applications, including VPN/SDN/NFV/SD-WAN, network security, data management, and analytics. Given the fact that the said purposes have different requirements, the appliance has to be flexible in terms of configuration.

That pretty much explains it. It's anything YOU want it to be.
 

Babbles

Diamond Member
Jan 4, 2001
8,253
14
81
My LG washer is on the network. It pings my phone when it finishes a load. No practical value. Except I get a wee bit of amusement in giving her grief about laundry from the other side of the world. Sorta makes it worthwhile.
 

shortylickens

No Lifer
Jul 15, 2003
82,854
17,365
136
the easy simple friendly home network computer has replaced the real computer.
desktop sales dropped off and tablets are being used everywhere.
 

nakedfrog

No Lifer
Apr 3, 2001
58,215
12,394
136
It's amazing how quickly we forget...phones, tablets, chromebooks, and laptops are all cheap & amazing these days. People hardly remember netbooks, let alone Internet Appliances, haha! Remember these bad boys??
I still have a couple Virgin Webplayers I never got around to hacking...