The harsh reality, very boiled down, of what we do at MBX is that “anyone can screw together a computer.”
We recognize this, and look for ways to go beyond this; to help our partners improve their products and the delivery to their customers.
This takes many forms, some of which I consider to be “Finishing Touches.”
For the bones of the system, we begin with hand selected hardware, optimized for the unique needs of our partner’s application, and work together to create and configure an image to be applied for each deployment.
However, to take this “server with software on it” and turn it into appliance, finishing touches are required.
One simple measure that we use is color coding and labeling the ports on the appliances we build. These labeled ports are often called out in Quick Start Guides or other documentation that ship with appliances. Often times, the shipment will also include a color coordinated cable. These simple measures improve the out of the box experience for the customer, raise the look and feel of the appliance, increase the gap between “server with software on it” and appliance, and can help to lessen support calls during the setup process. By themselves, small things like this aren’t life changing, but when all added up, it raises the impact of your deliverable significantly, and helps to differentiate your products. There are many of these little things that we provide our partners, which will be covered in future posts.
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| This example includes both Ethernet Port labels, and onboard video ports blocked, as an add in video card is used. |
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| Here is a simple label for multiple Ethernet Ports, including Lights Out Management (IPMI). |
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| A third example, this one surrounds the Ethernet ports. |
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| Less a port label in this instance, but a port cover. This obscures all ports on the back of the appliance except the Ethernet Ports. |
