General Information:

What is the RaQ 4 and what does it offer?
What is the difference between the RaQ 4 and the RaQ 3?
What's new in the RaQ 4?
What third party applications are available for the RaQ 4?
You say that the RaQ 4 is easy to use, can you prove it?
What Internet services does RaQ 4 provide?
Would it be cheaper to build my own box?
What is involved in the installation of RaQ 4?
Are NT, NetWare, Macintosh or UNIX licenses needed to use RaQ 4?
Can I upgrade the firmware?
What is the maximum storage capacity of RaQ 4?

Technical Information:

Does RaQ 4 have any slots for expansion?
What Network Protocols Does the RaQ 4 support?
How do I configure the RaQ 4 for TCP/IP?
How can I back up my RaQ 4?
How difficult is it to use Chili!Soft ASP to connect and use content from a Database?
What is the drive configuration of the RaQ 4? Does it have one disk or two?
Does the RaQ 4 support drive mirroring?
Can I upgrade my RaQ 4 storage capacity by adding another hard disk?
How much power does the RaQ 4 draw?
Does the RaQ 4 support name based virtual hosting?
Can Cobalt products be used as a secure (SSL) web server?
What about server authentication?

What is the RaQ 4 and what does it offer?
The Cobalt RaQ 4™ is a low cost, high density server appliance for Service Providers (SPs) and application developers that makes the deployment of applications and layered services over the Web quick, easy, and profitable. Combining outstanding features, performance and price, the Cobalt RaQ fulfills the SP's need for reliable, comprehensive, dedicated hosting solutions. More importantly, the web browser-based user interface simplifies administration and enables out-of-the-box installations in less than 15 minutes.

The RaQ 4 comes pre-configured with support for the world's leading development environments, giving customers everything they need to develop and deploy their Web applications. Unlike other Web application servers that tightly link the development environment to the server, the RaQ 4 lets you choose from a wide variety of development tools such as Microsoft FrontPage 2000 and Visual InterDev, Macromedia Drumbeat or NetObjects Fusion.

Configured with the Linux OS, Apache web server, InterBase 6 SQL Database and RAID 1 disk mirroring (RaQ 4r only), the Cobalt RaQ 4 is the ideal platform for deploying business critical applications that have high requirements for reliability at a fraction of the cost of traditional Unix, Windows NT, or "build-it-yourself" alternatives.

What is the difference between the RaQ 4 and the RaQ 3?
Out of the box, the form factor of the RaQ 4 is identical to the RaQ 3 - meaning all of the space advantages gained by the RaQ 3 are still present. Although they still look the same, taking a look under the hood will show you that there are a number of differences. The RaQ 4 is advancing Cobalt's server appliance technology by integrating powerful tools and applications into a reliable, low-cost solution. It all starts by rolling in powerful development functionality like Active Server Pages and PHP, which means that the RaQ supports virtually every Web development environment out there - meaning that you get to choose the tools and technologies that best fits your skills. Second is the addition of a powerful database to enable more dynamic, business critical applications to be deployed on the RaQ 4. To follow that up, business critical applications need high reliability and Cobalt addresses that by including software RAID 1 as a standard feature (RaQ 4r only). All of these features, plus a few more enhancements, make the RaQ 4 the ideal platform for SPs and application developers to deploy their applications and services.

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What's new in the RaQ 4?
Increased reliability:
RaQ 4r, the new premium line in the RaQ family of products, includes internal RAID 1 (mirrored disks), thereby protecting the customer from any disk failure. This increased level of reliability addresses opportunities for the service providers to offer new higher value-add packages to their end-customers. The end-customers, specifically those who have higher reliability requirements because their web sites are becoming business critical (i.e. e-commerce), will now be able use RaQ as their choice of hosting platform.

Integrated Developer Tools: (Active Server Page and PHP Support)
The RaQ 4 comes pre-configured with support for the world's leading development environments, giving customers everything they need to develop and deploy their Web applications. Unlike other Web application servers that tightly link the development environment to the server, the RaQ 4 lets customers choose from a wide variety of development tools such as Microsoft FrontPage 2000 and Visual InterDev, Macromedia Drumbeat or NetObjects Fusion. This means that customers can take advantage of the following:

• Maximize scarce developer resources.
• Improve time to market of applications.
• Protect existing investment in cross-platform environment.
• Easily migrate your existing applications to the Cobalt platform.
• A wide variety of development tools

More Power:
The RaQ 4 offers an increase of ~35% in power over the RaQ 3

Revisions of the applications to the latest stable version:
RaQ 4 upgrades the pre-packaged applications and the kernel to the latest stable software version.

What third party applications are available for the RaQ 4?
The array of solutions available for the RaQ 4 make it an ideal appliance platform for high-traffic Web portals, e-commerce, and application hosting. RaQ 4 customers and developers can build on leading edge Web and Internet technologies from industry leaders including Intershop, Oracle, OpenMarket, Miva, RSA, Sane Solutions, CyberCash, Signio, and Real Networks. Refer to the cobalt solutions page at http://www.cobalt.com/solutions/.

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You say that the RaQ 4 is easy to use, can you prove it?
Visit Cobalt's demo web site at http://demo.cobalt.com, and check for RaQ family in the "Products" sections. The Demo button will lead you to complete, fully-interactive UI demo that will demonstrate the ease of use and functionality of the product.

What Internet services does RaQ 4 provide?
RaQ 4 comes pre-configured with the latest versions of the Apache Web server, ProFTPd FTP server, Sendmail Email services, DNS, Chili!Soft ASP, InterBase 6 SQL Database, PHP, Front Page 2000 server extensions, Legato and Arkeia backup client, 128-bit SSL, Telnet server, SNMP agent, and Cobalt's patent pending Bandwidth Management service.

Would it be cheaper to build my own box?
No. You will find that the price of the build your own box is very comparable to Cobalt RaQ servers. Also, the RaQ 4 comes pre-configured with all the Internet service software wrapped in a very easy to use browser based interface that takes the hassles out of adding and configuring the software. Moreover, Cobalt provides ongoing support and continuous product enhancements.

What is involved in the installation of RaQ 4?
It is as simple as connecting the power and the Ethernet Port, configuring the IP address from the LCD screen, and configuring a single setup screen.

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Are NT, NetWare, Macintosh or UNIX licenses needed to use RaQ 4?
No, there is no additional software license required to run or use the RaQ 4.

Can I upgrade the firmware?
Cobalt provides updates and patches to the software through the Cobalt website at http://www.cobalt.com/support/download/index.html

What is the maximum storage capacity of RaQ 4?
RaQ 4i comes standard with one 15.2GB, 20GB or 30GB internal hard drive. RaQ 4r comes standard with two 20GB - 30GB internal hard drives, however the second drive is set up for disk mirroring and does not work towards storage with RAID working.

Does RaQ 4 have any slots for expansion?
Yes, a PCI slot is available for expansion.

What Network Protocols Does the RaQ 4 support?
TCP/IP.

How do I configure the RaQ 4 for TCP/IP?
IP address, netmask and gateway address are configured through the front panel LCD screen. Additional parameters are configured through the browser-based user interface.

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How can I back up my RaQ 4?
In addition to the standard web-based backup support, the RaQ 4 provides the option to remotely backup the server by using either Legato or Arkeia backup software. The Legato and Arkeia client software are included with the RaQ 4 which require a separate network based Legato or Arkeia backup server.

How difficult is it to use Chili!Soft ASP to connect and use content from a Database?
Not difficult at all. Since the Chili!Soft ASP application is integrated into the Cobalt RaQ 4, it follows the simplicity value of the appliance. Simply go to the Chili!Soft configuration page in the user interface and use the wizard to connect to the database of choice (PostgreSQL, MySQL, SequeLink, Oracle 8, Sybase, Informix, etc.)

What is the drive configuration of the RaQ 4? Does it have one disk or two?
RaQ 4i comes standard with one 15.2GB, 20GB or 30GB internal hard drive. RaQ 4r comes standard with two 20GB or 30GB internal hard drives.

Does the RaQ 4 support drive mirroring?
Yes. The RaQ 4r comes standard with RAID 1 software technology, allowing for data redundancy over two disks.

Can I upgrade my RaQ 4 storage capacity by adding another hard disk?
Yes, attaching an external storage device to the SCSI port can do this very easily. Then just click the "Add Storage" button from the RaQ 4 user interface and the additional storage will seamlessly integrate into the RaQ 4.

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How much power does the RaQ 4 draw?
The RaQ 4 power supply is rated at 80 watts, and runs continuously at much less than 60W. This is far less than other rack mountable servers.

Does the RaQ 4 support name based virtual hosting?
Name based virtual hosting means that the server can host multiple web sites on a single IP address. Along with IP based virtual hosting, the RaQ 4 does currently support this feature through the user interface.

Can Cobalt products be used as a secure (SSL) web server?
Yes, the RaQ 4 comes standard with 128-bit SSL and is manageable through the browser based interface.

What about server authentication?
Authentication is provided by Thawte Certification, a global leader in the digital certificate market place, will be the preferred provider of SSL certificates to Cobalt Servers.

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