BUSINESS CONNECTION
Executive Summary:
The Webcon Business Connection Server:
- is extremely cost effective
- provides efficient use of network connectivity
- is highly adaptable to various applications
- provides a high return-on-investment
- provides a professional on-line image:
- fast website and FTP server
- everyone can have e-mail
- group e-mail "Role" accounts, i.e. sales@xxx, hr@xxx
- has no per-user charges (no software licensing costs)
- provides scalable network security:
- packet-filtering firewall included
- secure login server for remote access
- can integrate with existing commercial firewall products
- is based on a very stable Linux platform (no crashing)
- is a completely Open-Source Solution:
- easily maintained
- no need to spend hours on technical support calls
Introduction:
Webcon, Inc. is proud to offer a flexible Internet connectivity package
geared for businesses wishing to have high-speed WWW and FTP presence. Our
solution also provides seamless office e-mail, Internet e-mail and WWW
access on every desk at a fraction of the cost of a dedicated high-speed
connection.
Background:
Most Internet solutions offered by Internet Service Providers (ISP's)
consist of web space on their server along with individual mailboxes for
each company employee. This type of solution provides high-speed access to
the company's WWW and FTP sites for its customers, however it limits the
flexibility of the company's e-mail system. Each employee must download
their mail from the ISP's mail server, which means that either they must all
access their mail from one dedicated machine, or each workstation computer
must be outfitted with a modem and phone-line access. Although functional,
this is both inconvenient and inefficient, not to mention very costly. As
well, this type of solution does not allow for easy integration of the
company's Internet mail with its internal messaging system, such as
Microsoft Exchange or Lotus Notes. This type of solution also does not
provide for easy mail administration because additional mailboxes must be
added by the ISP, which usually means an additional monthly fee.
The next most common type of solution offered by ISP's consists of a
dedicated network connection between the ISP and the company. This means
that the company's WWW/FTP site and e-mail mailboxes reside on the company's
internal server. This allows the company to completely control its e-mail
administration with no additional costs, however unless a high-speed
connection is purchased (i.e. T-1 or faster), customers will have very slow
access to the company's WWW and FTP sites. The infrastructure costs for
this type of solution are very high, since both the high-speed line and
associated routing hardware must be purchased in order to make it an elegant
solution. Another consideration for this type of solution is that a
fully-functional web server brings additional security risks
and unwanted traffic to the company's internal network. Finally, the largest
expense involved in this scenario is the cost of a full-time system
administrator to operate and maintain the system.
Webcon's solution gives you the advantages of both of these types of
solutions without all of the disadvantages. With this solution, the
company's WWW and FTP sites are hosted on Webcon's servers, giving the
company's customers high-speed access to their WWW and FTP sites. The
company's e-mail server is hosted on a Linux server on the company's
internal network, providing flexible and cost-free mail administration by
the company's system administrator. As well, this solution alleviates the
requirement for a high-speed connection to the Internet. In fact, this
solution will work very effectively even with a 28.8 KBPS dedicated or
dial-up modem connection.
Webcon is a network solution provider, not an ISP. This solution is only
being offered to businesses that require a quality Internet solution, and is
not offered to home computer users. The disadvantage of connecting through
an ISP is that you are sharing a high-speed backbone with hundreds or
thousands of other users, resulting in a serious loss of bandwidth.
Package Features:
(Some features are only available with optional system
components.)
- Software installation and setup of company Linux server including
operating system, mail server, proxy/web server, SSH server, Telnet server
and firewall protection.
- Based on our custom value-added Webcon Linux Distribution (customized Redhat)
- Software updates to Linux server due to security/bug fixes, as they
become available.
- 100 MB of web space and 500 MB/month traffic on Webcon's WWW server for
company WWW and FTP sites, giving high-speed access for customers.
- Domain Name Server (DNS) management for company domain (i.e.
www.<company>.com, ftp.<company>.com).
- Blanket forwarding (to company mail server) of all e-mail addressed to
company domain (i.e. <anyone>@<company>.com), allowing for
in-house administration and distribution to individual users.
- Access to individual employee e-mail from anywhere in the world with an
Internet connection (i.e. through modem connection when traveling or from a
home computer).
- Seamless web browsing from individual workstations using an in-house
WWW/FTP proxy server. Internal network security from outside invasion using
in-house firewall protection software.
- Seamless Intranet (internal Internet) browsing from individual
workstations using an in-house WWW/FTP server.
- Platform independent with regards to your company's internal network
operating system (Windows NT 3.51, Windows NT 4.0, Windows 95, Windows 3.1,
OS/2 Warp, X-Windows, etc.).
- Easily integrated with "groupware" products such as Lotus Notes and
Microsoft Exchange.
- Scaleable Internet connection options as your company grows, including
28.8 KBPS analog modem, 128 KBPS ISDN, 1-7 MBPS ADSL, wireless T-1,
burstable T-1, dedicated T-1, etc.
Network Connectivity Case Studies:
There are two predominant scenarios for Internet connectivity using your
Webcon Business Connection Server:
Permanent connection
Some Connectivity options (many other options available):
- Flat-rate BRI (128Kbit) or PRI (1.54Mbit) ISDN
- Frame Relay (128Kbit to 10+Mbit)
- ADSL (1Mbit to 10Mbit)
- T1 (1.54Mbit)
- T3 (45Mbit)
- Wireless Radio (1+Mbit)
The primary distinguishing features of this scenario are:
- Permanent connection, available 24 hours/day
- Full-service server can handle services directly
- E-mail gateway (bypass ISP)
- Web and FTP services available externally (if desired)
- Secure remote access to your company's network
- Secure VPN (Virtual Private Network) between any number of offices
Diagram:
Dial-Up (ISDN or modem)
Connectivity options:
- Analog modem (33.6Kbit or 56Kbit)
- Usage-based BRI ISDN (64Kbit or 128Kbit)
The primary distinguishing features of this scenario are:
- Dial-on-demand connection
- Keeps the line engaged only when necessary
- Reduces cost if your ISP does not have flat-rate fees
- ISP holds mail for periodic pickup
- E-mail is received and stored even when dial-up link is down
Diagram:
Technical Specifications:
Server Hardware minimum requirements
- 400 MHz 686-class processor (Celeron, PIII, P4, Duron, Athlon, etc.)
- 128MB SDRAM
- 8GB EIDE or SCSI hard drive
- SVGA Video adapter (PCI or AGP)
- 10/100 Mbit Ethernet network adapter (PCI)
Server Hardware recommended requirements
- 1 GHz 686-class processor (P4, Athlon, Xeon, Opteron, etc.)
- 512MB DDR SDRAM
- 40GB EIDE or SCSI hard drive
- SVGA Video adapter (PCI or AGP)
- 10/100/1000 Mbit Ethernet network adapter (PCI)
NOTE: All hardware components must be Y2K compliant, and must meet
common interoperability requirements.
NOTE: Use of a Webcon Business Connection Server does not require
purchasing an Internet connection from Webcon if your company already has an
Internet connection through an ISP.
Protocols Available to Internal Users
- WWW, FTP and SMTP access for customers and employees through the
Internet hosted on Webcon's WWW server
- Internet, Intranet, Telnet, SSH (secure encrypted remote login service),
SMTP and IMAP access for employees through internal network hosted on
company's Linux server
Protocols Available to Internal Users
- SSH (secure) and IMAP access for employees through the Internet hosted
on company's Linux server.
Webcon Server Aliases:
(these domain names will be mapped to
Webcon's server)
- ns.<company>.com
- www.<company>.com
- ftp.<company>.com
Company Linux Server Aliases:
(these domain names will be
mapped to your company's server)
- mail.<company>.com
- gateway.<company>.com
- <your choice>.<company>.com
This page last modified on 2003-12-18 16:01:13.
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