LateralAccessDevice

LAD: A Downloadable Appliance

We are all familiar with appliances: the refrigerator, DVD player and dishwasher (preferably without Wi-Fi) at home and firewall or router at the office. In common parlayance, an appliance is something you buy, plug in and it works, maybe with adjustments to a few settings to make it function more to your liking, but it is expected to work on its own out of the box.

The term "downloadable appliance" seems absurd. Is it a new thing? Actually, no. It is how Linux and FreeBSD became popular back in the 90s, before most people had even heard of them, beloved because they were tools that could be downloaded for free (or purchased on a CD for a small consideration, generally the cost of the CD and printing). People loaded them onto their own hardware and built their own network appliances, such as routers, firewalls and etc., thus saving thousands on the cost of brand name equipment and gaining more control.

With LAD, however, you have exactly that: a downloadable appliance. LAD is made in such a way that if you have compatible hardware, all you need to do is put the LAD installer on a USB stick, start the machine and that's about it. No monitor or keyboard is necessary. LAD operates on its own — it is your appliance.

Back then Windows was accused of bloat and, by comparison, Linux was fast and nimble. Times, however, have changed. Now it is LAD that comes in one tiny, yet powerful, module and does the things that you need to be done.

What do I need?

Compatible hardware, a USB stick and an Internet connection. That's all.

Hardware is abundant, so getting something that will work with LAD is no onerous task. You can even re-purpose an old PC. LAD works with very low-cost machines, as well as those higher up the price scale, so if a little more speed is needed (though LAD is pretty speedy on that low-cost minicomputer), the users who need it can get it for just a little bit more.

Why a downloadable appliance?

In a word, cost.

Just as the engineers in the 90s discovered, building your own beats the cost of buying brand name significantly. It also gave them more control over features and functions, without requiring additional installations, licenses or modules, as often was the case with brand name.

LAD works right out of the box and offers a suite of practical, common sense features for managing and securing networks and communications. See what LAD can do for you.