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.