1. An apparatus comprising: a housing; a mainboard including memory and a first processor mounted within the housing; a first network interface disposed within the housing and operatively coupled to the first processor, having a first network port and a first address; at least one expansion slot for receiving a peripheral device, operatively coupled to the mainboard; and a network communications link connecting the first network interface to said at least one expansion slot substantially disposed within the housing, wherein the first processor is enabled to communicate with a peripheral device adapted to be coupled to one of said at least one expansion slot and having a built-in network interface by transmitting data via the first network interface and the built-in network interface over the network communications link using a network transmission protocol.