$1,395 does seem too high for this. Although it is the entire package you are purchasing, and not just the hardware. Uptime, good support, easy administration, and the simplicity of a turnkey solution all play into this.
I would look at NetMAX way before I would consider paying this much for a network appliance however. For $399 you can get similar (if not better) linux based software installed on a Toshiba Magnia SG20. These machines are very similar in their specifications (566 Celeron, 2 NICS, 8 port switch, 128MB memory, 20 GB drive, etc...). And from my experience with the NetMAX software, it would be hard to beat it in terms of ease of use and flexibility.
Of course you could do better than either of these solutions if you had the technical know how and time to build your own machine and knew your way around linux. But for many small businesses, this isn't possible, and that is where the strength of solutions such as these lie.
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$1,395 does seem too high for this. Although it is the entire package you are purchasing, and not just the hardware. Uptime, good support, easy administration, and the simplicity of a turnkey solution all play into this.
I would look at NetMAX way before I would consider paying this much for a network appliance however. For $399 you can get similar (if not better) linux based software installed on a Toshiba Magnia SG20. These machines are very similar in their specifications (566 Celeron, 2 NICS, 8 port switch, 128MB memory, 20 GB drive, etc...). And from my experience with the NetMAX software, it would be hard to beat it in terms of ease of use and flexibility.
Of course you could do better than either of these solutions if you had the technical know how and time to build your own machine and knew your way around linux. But for many small businesses, this isn't possible, and that is where the strength of solutions such as these lie.