Hitachi announced the first model, the InterStation, of the HA8000-ie series in October 1999. The four keywords for this series of appliance servers were “easy to use,” “connectivity,” “all in one,” and “security.” The models were designed to meet the diversifying Internet business and promised easy and quick support for difficult-to-construct IT environments. Hitachi released the following three products.
- (1) The InterStation combined the firewall functions necessary for an Internet server and the functions for an internal/external public server in one deskside cabinet. The InterStation was also packaged with an installation service and a user-address configuration service.
- (2) The WebMax was a cache memory unit that sped up Web accesses.
- (3) The SecureTop was a firewall unit that provided essential security functions.
These products included the hardware and the necessary operational software and were packaged with services handling everything from system configuration to installation.
