The Family is the Network: Pure Networks' Network Magic wants to make things simple
I spent some time at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas a few weeks ago watching demos and talking with the players at Pure Networks about Network Magic. I'm not saying it's the Holy Grail, but Network Magic presents a well-designed tool set for the home area network-it's a scaled down corporate network management program written specifically for the Home-Area Network (HAN). Network Magic supports PCs running Win 98 and above, and one license covers all.
You load the software on all the PCs on your network and Network Magic automatically creates a management layer that bridges the interoperability gaps between disparate network devices. Designed to manage anything that has an IP address, the program automatically configures the settings on all devices. You don't have to worry about cloning MAC addresses on each PC, or dealing with TCP/IP, DHCP or WEP to get the network up and running the first time.
Network Magic provides users with an easily interpreted topology map that creates a diagram like a family tree of
devices on the network. You can drill down for in-depth information on each device. Tools and wizards gives you the
ability to keep the network running, add a device without breaking it, share a printer, and documents and photos with
other users on the network with a single click.
The product has a repair agent which gives you the ability to diagnose and fix problems. Network Magic can detect a
network outage and mark it with a big red "X" on the topology diagram showing you where the outage occurred, and gives
you some indication of how to fix it.
The remote access feature is most impressive. Network Magic provides easy remote access to important, shared files
when away from home by creating your own home network URL on the Internet. You type your URL and password into any
browser, and Network Magic provides a secure VPN to the home network. (Although repair agents and features are not
fully supported in Network Magic 1.0, the remote access application is a good first step toward being able to repair
the HAN from work.)
Pure Networks' CEO Tim Dowling, a 14-year Intel veteran, said Network Magic is architected as a platform much like a
corporate IT product. It consists of a network management layer. There is an agent that runs on each one of the PCs,
and the features—sharing folders, sharing printers and remote access—are actually applications running on top of the
management layer.
Dowling said later versions of Network Magic will offer other compelling applications that can be plugged into the
management layer. He said they may include the ability to update antivirus programs on every PC with single click, to
add guest users to the HAN, to print a file from home at a remote location, and the ability to actually fix the network
from a remote location.
Dowling said Pure Networks is also talking with vendors to develop agents that will run on various hand-held devices.
"It may soon be possible for the technical head of household to access the home network with a cell phone," he said.
Given how much of a pain it is for the average person to set up and maintain a home network, network management can
never be too good; this maxim grows in importance when your customers are the members of your own family, and you want
to peacefully co-exist in the same house with your spouse and children, while sharing digital music and photo folders
across the HAN.
Whether you are setting up a network that supports 20 devices in two independent home offices under one roof, or just
trying to coax two PCs into sharing a printer, building and managing a HAN is not easy. By plugging a router into a
cable modem, ordinary people are stepping into a complex world, where they need to understand some highly specialized
technology, according to Michael Gartenberg, VP and Research Director, Jupiter Research.
Gartenberg said research shows there are two main problems with managing today's HAN. The first problem is that one
person, usually the most technically savvy person, in the family inevitably becomes the Technical Head of Household
(THH).
He said the THH becomes the family's network administrator, solely responsible for walking around and explaining to
everyone how everything works, and for maintaining the network, troubleshooting and fixing it when it breaks.
The THH also uploads all the photos and downloads all the music onto their PC, then distributes it to everyone else's
PC. Not to mention, they have to spend a lot of time sorting out family issues arising from home network failure, plus
shouldering all the grief from relatives and friends.
The second problem is interoperability—getting PCs and other network devices from multiple vendors to work together.
Though Microsoft, Intel and other vendors have greatly improved universal plug 'n' play compatibility, it's still not
easy to sync the diverse combination of elements. In fact, recent research shows consumers return almost 30 percent of
the home-networking hardware they buy because they can't make it work right, said Van Baker, Vice President &
Research Area Director, Consumer Electronics, Gartner G2.
Corporate IT managers have had network management software (NMS) packages for managing the corporate IT network
infrastructure for years—everything from IBM's Tivoli and Computer Associates' Unicenter TNG to Microsoft's SMS or
Micromuse's Netcool solution. These products create a management layer to help corporate network administrators make
diverse network devices interoperate smoothly and reliably. But when they get home, they face a similar challenge
without similar tools.
That's why it's so promising that someone has developed an NMS product for the digital home, and Pure Networks has
some big partners. AOL, Inc., the world's largest Internet services provider, and D-Link, one of the leading
manufacturers of HAN hardware and software, announced agreements to develop and distribute Network Magic. AOL will
release a customized version of Network Magic to its 28.5 million members worldwide at no charge later this spring.
D-Link said it will distribute a customized version of Network Magic with selected routers this spring.
Their adoption of Network Magic is a big plus for privately held Pure Networks, which has already authored Port Magic,
a product that enables gamers to play multi-player games over the Internet by automatically opening and closing ports
on their Internet gateways. Available as part of the latest version of AOL® 9.0 Optimized, Port Magic has reportedly
sold over 1 million licenses in the last six months.
Dowling said Pure Networks is sharing its APIs with partners like AOL and D-Link so they can write both agents and
applications that leverage the Network Magic platform to the enhance the value of their hardware and software
offerings. Resulting products are then tested and certified by Pure Networks, and then become eligible to display the
Network Magic Optimized logo, he said.
Neil Smith, General Manager, Media Services, AOL, told me the ISP has leveraged the Network Magic platform to help
reduce AOL's enormous call volume. He said 36 percent of AOL broadband customers have more than one device on the
network, and when the Internet goes down, the customer usually calls the ISP, even though the problem is usually on the
HAN.
"We think Pure Networks has done a fantastic job creating a product that can help even the least technical person in
the family understand and manage the HAN without having to call anyone," Smith said.
Rocky Rosas, technical marketing engineer at D-Link, said he has fully tested Network Magic for D-Link routers, and
found it to be easily integrated with the PC software that comes with D-Link's hardware. Rosas said Pure Networks
brought together network OS development expertise and end user ease-of-use expertise into a product that adds a lot of
value for D-Link customers.
Though D-Link is the first Network Optimized router vendor, others also seem to be considering Network Magic.
David Henry, NetGear Product Line Manager for consumer routers, told me Network Magic as the only product he's seen so
far that attempts to manage the entire home network. "Other software packages in this space, like Orb and Single-Click,
are focused on streaming digital content to various devices on the network, or are utilities that only attempt to deal
with one kind of hardware device," he said.
Dowling said Pure Networks' marketing strategy is to roll Network Magic out through as many channels as possible, so,
in addition to the AOL and D-Link partnerships, the company plans to distribute its own version in the $59-$99 price
range in a few months. Until then, a beta version is available for downloading at
http://www.networkmagic.com/.
Patrick Karle is a technology journalist with more than 10 years' experience writing about network management software. He owns no stock in any of the companies mentioned in this article.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Mark @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM
Sorry but I completely reject "HAN" or Home Area Network as a valid acroynm. I use a router and some hubs at home and my Network is all in the Local Area, thanks. (LAN)
abstrakONE @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM
This sounds like a good idea, I'll give the beta a shot and see how it work for myself and my family.
Steve @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM
I'll be interested when the software addresses the issue of multi-platform environment (Windows, Linux, OS X).
cacophony @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM
Yeah...no OSX/Linux support pretty much wrecks it for me too. Am I crazy in thinking anyone interesting in this product is probably running at least one non windoze system on their network?
Jeff @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM
It's funny how their slideshow at the top of the screen shows a Titanium Powerbook though. I would imagine that they'll add support when it's out of beta though.
Carmi @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM
Nice concept. When it's available in a simple box that I can buy for a few hundred dollars, bring home and plug in, I'll bite.
We're still at the early-adopter stage, of course, but this is the latest in a long line of encouraging developments.
Carmi
http://writteninc.blogspot.com
Simon Bisson @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM
I'd have liked to try this out, but it's very router dependent, so my Zyxel DSL router/firewall locks me out of even finishing an install.
Not enough routers are supported - which shouldn't really be necessary - surely using UPnP would make it a lot simpler to deploy and use.
Ah well, it's back to the GFI tools which may not look as nice, at least work with cross-platform networks.
S @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM
According to this post, http://www.engadget.com/entry/1234000930032624/ , HAN is Human Area Network. Human or Home, which is it!?
Joe @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM
Sounds cool, I wonder what it will do with my VoIP router (hidden below my home LAN/WLAN rounter), a TiVo, and/or wireless mdia hub? Will it just not see or worry about them, or will it disble/botch that functionality? what about wireless Video Game Adapters, or Print Servers?
Bill @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM
I've been using thsi for a few weeks now, and it seems to be a little buggy when dealing with network disconnects. On the other hand however, I've not installed it on my roommates computers. I blieve the word for me doing that would be "lynch mob"
hobgoblin @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM
hmm, while i can see the use for this (simpler plug and play shareing of files between devices without haveing to think protocols or similar) im starting to worry about the security aspect of it. make it to simple to access and sooner or later some worm will show up that use some flaw in it...
Justin @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM
I installed this yesterday and so far think it's pretty handy. It makes sharing files between my roommates and I easy. The one complaint is that it is very difficult to share printers on computers that are running different versions of Windows (I'm using it to connect a couple XP's and a 2000). So far, I haven't been able to get my drivers to support it correctly, and after 2 frustrating hours trying last night, I doubt I'll try again any time soon.
soe @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM
Concept is good and a cool interface. Crappy support in the discussion forum. Sw uninstalled @ home network.
soe @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM
Concept is good and a cool interface. Crappy support in the discussion forum. Sw uninstalled @ home network.
gpf @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM
looks to me like support addressed your issues soe. what did you think is crappy about the support?
http://support.purenetworks.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=448
barnsey @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM
I've got this on my ethernet wired home nework with 4 PC's running. Works like a charm and everyone has access to my broadband connection via the NetGear rp614v2 router and D-Link ADSL DSL302G modem.
Can't get it to load on my primary computer though, but the support people seem responsive and although we haven't fixed it yet (2 days) they are working on it I'm told.
Will advise on any further developments
Jamie
barnsey @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM
I've got this on my ethernet wired home nework with 4 PC's running. Works like a charm and everyone has access to my broadband connection via the NetGear rp614v2 router and D-Link ADSL DSL302G modem.
Can't get it to load on my primary computer though, but the support people seem responsive and although we haven't fixed it yet (2 days) they are working on it I'm told.
Will advise on any further developments
Jamie
barnsey @ Dec 19th 2005 12:10AM
I've got this on my ethernet wired home nework with 4 PC's running. Works like a charm and everyone has access to my broadband connection via the NetGear rp614v2 router and D-Link ADSL DSL302G modem.
Can't get it to load on my primary computer though, but the support people seem responsive and although we haven't fixed it yet (2 days) they are working on it I'm told.
Will advise on any further developments
Jamie
Mike @ Dec 21st 2005 1:05PM
Just finishing the 14 day trial on my 4 home pc's which include cable modem, linksys vonage voice router and linksys wireless switch router. Works like a charm, you can do the same with windows but it always seems to 'forget' how to find other devices, especially with firewalls turned on. Net Magic solves these problems and was a snap to set up. Haven't fully tested the net2go feature but have many situations where we want to send large files to biz associates from the home office and email is not very effective - so this could be the solution. I also have two family web sites which I don't do a good job of updating and may be able to eliminate with NM - other products that do home web sites / file sharing or web based file lockers cost more than this product by themselves. At $29.95 it's a no brainer. Congrats to Pure Nets for a simple, effective and well priced solution.
mikescott @ Jan 5th 2006 12:33PM
I would have purchased this product hand down until I noticed buried in the small type that this is not a single pay price but an automatic yearly draw on your credit card.