Axentra Net-Box SOHO 400 review

On the hardware side, the SOHO 400's build quality is excellent, and after 15 days of solid uptime it was still venting appreciably cool air, which is an encouraging sign. It also keeps noise to a minimum so you won't need to lock this box into a cupboard like you might with other servers. Just as well, too, as it's far too good looking to be kept out of view.

Should you decide to squirrel the Net-Box away, though, you needn't look at it from one month to the next. All maintenance tasks can be performed remotely, and software updates, downloaded from the Axentra website onto a local PC, can then be copied to the server using Windows Explorer and installed using a one-field form in your browser.

Even the help system is tailored to match your specific requirements rather than simply dole out generic instructions. We registered thebackendofbeyond.com as our network domain, and it was immediately written into each of the commands on the online help pages. Instructions therefore ran along the lines of 'The command is $ cadaver https://axentraserver.thebackendofbeyond.com/mydisk/pcpro/ for secure (SSL) access'. It also tracked our dynamically assigned IP address and wrote it into the help files, so that regardless of how many times it changed between one session and the next the instructions were always accurate.

Combined, these features make for a compelling product at a bargain price. The hardware specs alone justify the price, but when you add in the software and its implementation you're making a real cost saving over buying each of the bundled elements separately. As such, it comes highly recommended.

Author: Nik Rawlinson