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Quick and easy solutions for building a network don't come easy. Rebel's NetWinder, did. We tested it with trial by fire, and it faired rather well...
90% Rating: 
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Setup and installation
Fortunately, we were
able to test the Netwinder with a T1-connection. The network we tested
it on includes a variety of operating systems, including;
Win98, Win2000, Mac O/S and even a small Linux box. Each of these
nodes are connected to a 10/100 Hub, which is
in turn hooked up to the Netwinder before finally jacking
the Ethernet cord into a stealthy looking Cisco 1601-R router.
At a glance, here is
how the whole system was laid out for our tests (mouse over the components to
take a peak) :
Probably one of the
best aspects of this all-in-one solution is the set-up. It's actually... easy.
Yes that's right, setting up an office server can be easy! The cream coloured unit stands upright in
a greenish plastic cradle that comes included. This enables proper cooling
and allows easy access
to it's backside, where everything gets plugged in. Unlike a hub, or router the Netwinder
is more of a desktop piece of hardware. The bottom line is that cables
and peripherals are easily hooked up to the device, its kept cool, and doesn't take up that much room.
It has a footprint of only 8cm x 15cm.
The Installation
There
are
two ways to setup the Netwinder: directly from the unit
itself - through Rebel's own nwconfig
utility, or through a web interface that
comes with the supplied CD. Rebel no doubt prefers that Netwinder users use the web-based Graphical
User Interface (GUI), rather than playing with the
Netwinder directly. Remember that this is a 'plug and play server', and
as such, it's intended for a mass audience that likely doesn't know much about
Linux.
Suppressing
the urge to do the installation and configuration directly from the Netwinder
console, I fired up the GUI. The installation is
written simply, explaining each step as you progress through it - I
whipped through the setup in a manner of minutes. Here is a look at
one of the nicest installation screens you may ever see:
With
the little guy installed and visible on the network, it was time to
configure...
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