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About The Butler Box

Finally, a proxy/remote access system that lets you concentrate on what you do best. Serve your users, not your hardware. The Butler Box gives you the following advantages:

  • Turnkey system: No systems administrator to hire, no server to buy, no "configuration" files to figure out, no worries about updating the operating system
  • Usage statistics: Includes a graphical package for tracking usage of your web resources, helps you fine-tune collection development decisions
  • Flexible user validation: You can validate users with your existing databases, or use the built-in user database
  • Fail-safe protection: In the event of a hardware failure, a new Butler Box is shipped to you and can be up and going in minutes using your plug-and-play backup device
  • Simple administration: Add your e-resources via an easy-to-use web interface
  • Painless backup: Backup all your critical data via a web interface in minutes
  • Happy end users: No web browser configuration; use existing usernames/passwords
  • No configuration headaches: The Butler Box is shipped to you preconfigured and ready to go--just plug it in and start entering your resources
  • Proxy HTTPS resources: Give users access to secure (SSL) resources that other systems can't handle

Libproxy

The heart of The Butler Box system is Libproxy, a flexible, secure, and robust URL rewriting pass-through proxy solution. Libproxy was developed by Richard L. Goerwitz, and is freely available for download from his site at http://www.goerwitz.com/software/libproxy/ Libproxy is used in the ButlerBox system with the permission of Mr. Goerwitz.

If Libproxy is freely available, why would you want The Butler Box?

There’s more to using Libproxy, or any software-based proxy/remote-access solution, than simply buying the software and entering your electronic resources. You may need to buy a dedicated server, and will need someone on staff who knows how (and has the time!) to run it. The operating system must be kept patched and updated. You will need to set up a backup scheme for your proxy server, and perhaps find a statistics package that renders usage statistics in a convenient format.

If all this sounds appealing to you, or if you have superior IT talent available within your institution willing to dedicate time to taking care of your proxy solution, The Butler Box may not be for you.

However, if you find

  • a remote access solution that is plug-it-in simple
  • a web interface for entering your electronic resources made to be understood by humans
  • built-in, one-step, lightning-fast backup of all your data
  • a powerful, graphical statistics interface

appealing, TheButler Box is ready to serve you.

What The Butler Box offers is ease of use, and peace of mind. What you are purchasing is a service, the care of your remote access system, rather than a piece of software or hardware. The Butler Box allows you to spend your valuable time managing your electronic resources, rather than worrying about hardware, software, and availability of technical support.

User Validation

You can validate your users with the built-in (local) database--just import a delimited text file of your existing users, or create them on the fly with a user-friendly web interface. Or you may choose to validate your users with one or more methods already in use at your institution, such as:

  • IMAP email accounts
  • LDAP
  • Windows NT authentication
  • Kerberos
  • Innovative Interfaces Inc. (does not require Innovative's Patron API module!)
  • Other ILS system
  • Radius server

Have a special need for user authentication? Contact Us about creating a custom validation method for you.

Hardware Specifications

  • Dimensions: 11.8" (L) X 7.9" (W) X 7.3" (H)
  • Weight: 10 lbs (approximate)
  • Power: 110VAC, 200W UL-certified
  • Connections:
    • Network: RJ-45 10/100BaseT ethernet
    • Power: Standard ATX power connector, power cord included
    • Peripherals: USB port
  • Peripherals:
    • USB flash memory storage device, included

Where It All Came From

The Butler Box was born when a systems administrator/software developer serving an academic medical library asked himself why there wasn’t a robust, flexible proxy solution that was simple for non-technical administrators and librarians as well as end users, a solution that let libraries and other institutions concentrate on managing their resources, rather than their hardware.

Working with another programmer/database designer and a systems librarian from an academic institution, the concept of a turnkey system began to take shape.

Libproxy, developed by Richard Goerwitz, was chosen as the heart of the system because it had a proven track record and offered security and ease-of-use features available in no other remote-access solution. Open-source components such as AWStats (http://awstats.sourceforge.net/) added robust features without increasing costs.

With the addition of a unique backup system and user management, and after extensive testing, The Butler Box is ready to begin serving you.