Amax Rolls Out New Cloud Appliance for SMBs

CloudMax is an on-premises, x86-based private cloud appliance that integrates hardware, storage, networking, virtualization and dynamic management to create a private cloud environment.

There's no question that the trend in SMB cloud computing looks something like this: Open box, take unit out of box, plug in unit, turn on unit, plug unit into the system.

Oh, sure, there may also be a few drop-down menus to peruse, and perhaps even an IP address to enter. But more and more of this equipment is preconfigured and, for all intents and purposes, plug-and-play.

Amax on April 25 perpetuated this trend by launching CloudMax, a private cloud appliance developed specifically for SMBs looking for a preintegrated hardware and software package-one that can deliver out-of-the-box cloud services.

CloudMax's on-premises, x86-based private cloud appliance integrates hardware, storage, networking, virtualization and dynamic management to create a private cloud environment, Amax said.

Securitywise, Amax uses unified threat management, which is embedded into the appliance infrastructure to enforce security on three levels-intrusion prevention, application control and SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) VPN-for real-time protection without slowing down cloud performance, Amax said.

The unit combines cloud management automation, unified threat management and advanced platform engineering into a ready-to-deploy package, Amax said. Pricing starts at about $65,000.

Fremont, Calif.-based Amax, which has built its reputation since 1979 in the high-performance computing world by making custom servers and workstations, also makes high-performance computing clusters for customers such as CalTech, the Department of Defense, Stanford University and the Argonne National Lab.

Amax will be performing live demonstrations of CloudMax in booth #911 at Interop Las Vegas 2011 at Mandalay Bay on May 10-12, 2011.