EddScott

Can anyone here help me out?

We have a basic peer to peer network at work but starting to struggle and we need to improve the speed of the network and improve things like file movement, printing and email/web access.

A few people have said to get a dedicated server and Windows Small Business Server but I'm not sure if we really need it. I thought that just speeding up our network to 1gig and getting a more secure router/switch will do for our needs.

We really move office files around the network and access our online client database. Its a small financial adviser practice with 5 statics and 2 lappys.

TIA

mike1210

id imagine peer to peer being ok for 7 in total. What is the hardware setup currently, are the machines a decent spec?

a NAS server may help for files and the like

100 meg switch should be fine for most things, only really excessive file sharing and the like would 1 gig make a difference. All PC's need to be able to support this mind you (jumbo frames)

EddScott

None of them are more than a few years old. We have some large excel files of 5mb ish which seem to take forever to load from anywhere other than the machine we keep the files on.

Our MD sometimes insists on moving files around on the host machine from his using windows explorer. This nearly always results in his machine locking up. I assumed that an increased network speed would stop this from happening.

Our web access is just a cheap ADSL modem and the machines are all linked through an equally cheap hub. This needs some looking at because we have just bought web based client management software so we need to improve our security over the web.

Another small issue is that we have a couple of networked printers (they stand alone and not via the machines) and sometimes if too many people all use them at once or a few people all try to print .pdf applications, the printers just lock. At worst we have to shut the machines down altogether to clear the prnt requests.

BlkKnight

if a 5mb file is taking ages to transfer on a 100mb network - you have serious network problems.

A 100meg file is takes about 3 seconds on my 100mbit (very cheap) switch)

There is very little point going to 1gb network unless:

- your application is VERY network intensive
- you have very fast disks to cope with the R/W aspect of moving data.

A standard SATA / IDE disk will be flooded on a 100meg network.

mike1210

as above really (except the transfer rates)

ditch the hub though, get a 100 meg switch, this should be fine.

depends on budget really, but for router choice i'd go for this

Broadbandbuyer.co.uk | Cisco 877W 54Mbps Wireless Integrated Services ADSL Router

you need to know a bit about cisco mind you, commands for IOS updates etc

great features on that router for remote access, secure firewall etc

a cheaper router may also be fine, provided it's set up and secured correctly

file server......this could help you id imagine

Infrant Technologies

not cheap.....but ace

BlkKnight

Overkill!!

Don't go wireless unless you really need to as it can (if not secured correctly) open your network up.

ADSL router: Vigor2800 ADSL2+ Router, Firewall and VPN Device - Vigor 2800

They are simple enough to set up. Very effective to use and offer some decent functionality for the money.

You'd want to link this into any half decent unmanaged switch (netgear for example) - should cost no more than £60

mike1210

I suppose yes. The Draytek would be fine, used to have the 2600G and it was ace

EddScott

Thanks for the advice.

Think in the first instance we should improve the structure of the network itself - router/switch etc.

My concern was that we'd get something we didn't really need and even worse it turn up and be beyond my meager knowledge in order to set it up correctly.

Cheers

mike1210

yeah go for the router switch and see if it helps, it should hopefully make things run far better

BlkKnight

the vigor is really easy to set up.

Just get your broadband log in details & router config from your ISP - they should talk you through configuring the "outside" bit of the router.

Then depending on your network on your LAN, you'd need to configure DHCP, or give it a static IP and get your PC's to route through it.

where are you based?

J

EddScott

Might well go with the router suggested. Also looking at Netgear FS108P 8 port switch.

Looking into the NAS and it might be what we are after. Having a quick look at some of the specs of ones available via overclockers, they do seem to suggest an NAS might suit us better than an all singing server affair. Plus with some offering RAID1 we also get some reasonable back up safety.

mike1210

cheaper ones than the one i suggested below.

RAID 5 would be better to be honest, equipment permitting

Broadbandbuyer.co.uk | Buffalo TeraStation 1.0 Terabyte Network Attached Storage

Broadbandbuyer.co.uk | Buffalo TeraStation Pro 1.0 Terabyte NAS

the infrant would have better performance but the above are still decent

EddScott

That seems an awful lot of space for our needs. We back up our office files onto a DVD disc and barely fill 3GB. The entire contents of our host machine is under 20GB.

We have discussed running as close to a paperless office as possible which would involve scanning all correspondence onto the system which would inturn increase our storage needs dramatically but at best we are 24-36 months away from considering this.

BlkKnight

I'd be inclined to go for a 16 port switch - you'll probabily outgrow the 8 very quickly.

FS108P - do you need power over Ethernet?

just go for the FS116

RE NAS: Why not use a mid spec PC with a couple of 200gb SATA in RAID 1 - you can always back this up to an external USB2 drive periodically.

/Bk - building offices on a budget since 1990. . . .

EddScott

Well, we've got enough odds and ends to build a machine. Haven't got a spare RAID mobo or HDs but got cases and other components.

If I built a machine, what other software would I need over XP Pro for it to do things like file and print serving etc?

Sorry for all the questions but haven't got anyone else to ask

BlkKnight

1/2 decent SATA PCI card (go into your existing PC = £20.00
1/2 decent 200 GB drives = £60 x2
OEM copy of windows 2000 Professional = not much

2000/xp pro will be able to do file & print sharing but not serving.

NB 2000 Professional (and XP Professional) can only sustain 10 concurrent connections - if you need more than go to 2000/3/7 server or a *nix based server.

EddScott

Ahhh,

So the SATA cards have RAID onboard which solves that one.

I would say mirrored drives and DVD backups offsite (Gets about as far as the car glove box but its still offsite!) is enough.

I was going to pinch the bits to start a HTPC at home. Business first I guess

BlkKnight

DVD backup will serve you for now, but when you get bigger (as you will) you'll need tape / removable disks.

How are you backing up your emails?

SOME SATA cards have raid on them.

If your budget can stretch go for an adaptec card, if not then a promise. Do a bit of research as to the reliability of the RAID1 on them.