Yamnet Technology (Taiwan) has introduced an “instant Internet appliance” in the form of a PC plugin card board-set and a CD-ROM that contains pre-defined Linux configurations for a variety of network/Internet device applications. Yamnet will market the board-set and associated support services to OEMs and integrators of network and Internet appliances.

The system is configured via a browser based initialization and maintenance utility. Choices of ready-to-run system applications include: file server, web page server, print server, firewall, mail server, DHCP client and server, news server, backup functions, FTP server, database processor, NAT server, SSL, proxy server, and domain name server.

The core of the Yamnet board-set is a PC plug-in card (see photo) that accommodates up to three EPROMs and/or DiskOnChip ICs which contain the Linux kernel. The balance of the board-set is a pair of Ethernet cards that provide intranet and extranet (i.e. Internet) connectivity. The three cards plug into a conventional PC motherboard (selected from among a list supported by Yamnet). Although the Linux kernel boots from the ROM card, a conventional hard drive must contain the selected application software along with its associated Linux configuration and data storage requirements.

 
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