office setup

[Sam]

I am interested in getting views on a proposed office network. I have taken
some advice from a boffin but have no way of checking whether that advice is
good or bad. I am hoping that the collective brains trust in these groups
might shed some light on the subject. Please bear in mind that I am not far
advanced from computer illiterate. If these questions are incomprehensible
then that might be the explanation.

We have 4 staff, each with their own stand alone computers. I am going to
acquire four new computers. Those in my office tell me that I need to change
the current arrangement to an office network.

The use will be e-mail, web searching and small accounting system.

The questions I would like to answer for the new office network are

1. is a server as well as the 4 desk tops a good idea. ie what would a
server add? Is it just the ability to view/access others files? What are the
relative advantages and disadvantages of adding a server eg accessibility
and cost effectiveness?

2. Is Celeron or AMD preferable vis-a-vis pentium 4.

3. Are there any issues bout these being accessible and cost effective?

Thank you.

Sam

 

[Rod Speed]

I am interested in getting views on a proposed office network.
I have taken some advice from a boffin but have no way of
checking whether that advice is good or bad. I am hoping
that the collective brains trust in these groups might shed
some light on the subject. Please bear in mind that I am
not far advanced from computer illiterate. If these questions
are incomprehensible then that might be the explanation.

We have 4 staff, each with their own stand alone computers. I am
going to acquire four new computers. Those in my office tell me
that I need to change the current arrangement to an office network.

You should be asking them what they
want to see that they dont currently have.

The use will be e-mail, web searching and small accounting system.

The questions I would like to answer for the new office network are

1. is a server as well as the 4 desk tops a good idea. ie what
would a server add? Is it just the ability to view/access others files?

It varys depending on how its used. You can have all the files
that matter on it, accessed from there by the individual PCs.

That makes it simpler to backup, but depends
on what the accounting system can support etc.

What are the relative advantages and disadvantages
of adding a server eg accessibility and cost effectiveness?

Main advantage is centralising files so they can be backed
up properly. Main disadvantage is that it needs to be fixed
quickly if it breaks and isnt as easy to setup.

2. Is Celeron or AMD preferable vis-a-vis pentium 4.

I prefer celerons for their quietness, perfectly
adequate performance for that situation.

3. Are there any issues bout these
being accessible and cost effective?

Not really but its not very clear what this question is about.

 

[Sandgroper]

I am interested in getting views on a proposed office network. I have taken
some advice from a boffin but have no way of checking whether that advice is
good or bad. I am hoping that the collective brains trust in these groups
might shed some light on the subject. Please bear in mind that I am not far
advanced from computer illiterate. If these questions are incomprehensible
then that might be the explanation.

We have 4 staff, each with their own stand alone computers. I am going to
acquire four new computers. Those in my office tell me that I need to change
the current arrangement to an office network.

The use will be e-mail, web searching and small accounting system.

The questions I would like to answer for the new office network are

1. is a server as well as the 4 desk tops a good idea. ie what would a
server add? Is it just the ability to view/access others files? What are the
relative advantages and disadvantages of adding a server eg accessibility
and cost effectiveness?

2. Is Celeron or AMD preferable vis-a-vis pentium 4.

3. Are there any issues bout these being accessible and cost effective?

You haven't said what business you are running and what applications you
would be using.

At a glance of what you posted , the ideal way is to set up a Star Network
topology using a central network switch with all the computers and the
server coming off it.

The server will act as a primary domain controller and you will be able to
centralise all the office data files / data base /accounting system .....
etc

The workstations can either logon to the server domain or they can logon
without joining the server domain.

As with the older computers , if they are not very old , like a 1 Ghz or
above , you can redeploy some
of them for print servers as well one as a firewall /proxy server to the
internet for all your emails and web browsing and you can even use one of
them to be a backup the server data.

Backups can be also be done by using a 200 Gb Maxtor One Touch USB external
HDD that can be placed anywhere away from the server.


As with the type of computers , the server should be a P4 server , you can
get the budget ones for about $4,000 and for the workstations , the Celerons
would be alright.



--

 

[quietguy]

Sam, whenever I was in your position I found it worthwhile to get a number of
'quotes' for the 'item' in question. While to some degree you will find this a
bit confusing, you will gradually learn the questions to ask.

David

 

[Damien McBain]

Sam committed to the eternal aether...:

I am interested in getting views on a proposed office network. I have taken
some advice from a boffin but have no way of checking whether that advice is
good or bad. I am hoping that the collective brains trust in these groups
might shed some light on the subject. Please bear in mind that I am not far
advanced from computer illiterate. If these questions are incomprehensible
then that might be the explanation.

We have 4 staff, each with their own stand alone computers. I am going to
acquire four new computers. Those in my office tell me that I need to change
the current arrangement to an office network.

The use will be e-mail, web searching and small accounting system.

The questions I would like to answer for the new office network are

1. is a server as well as the 4 desk tops a good idea. ie what would a
server add? Is it just the ability to view/access others files? What are the
relative advantages and disadvantages of adding a server eg accessibility
and cost effectiveness?

It's a good idea for the reasons already stated by others (backing up being
the biggest benefit). It doesn't need to be a 'real' server, it can be a
lesser machine than the desktops if all you are doing is sharing some files
and printers.

2. Is Celeron or AMD preferable vis-a-vis pentium 4.

The cheapest one. I use AMD myself but I wouldn't say they are better then
intel or vice versa.

3. Are there any issues bout these being accessible and cost effective?

You could probably use the existing computers depending on how old they are
and what software they need to run. If you only need to use existing
software plus a web browser and email client then this may be an option.
Naturally the boffin wants to sell you new stuff.

In your situation it will be difficult if not impossible to justify the
capital on a ROCI basis. I would say do it with minimum specs to suit your
applications but reasonable quality, plan to replace it all in 3 years and
ensure it's well supported by the vendor or someone else.

 

[The Real Andy]

I am interested in getting views on a proposed office network. I have taken
some advice from a boffin but have no way of checking whether that advice is
good or bad. I am hoping that the collective brains trust in these groups
might shed some light on the subject. Please bear in mind that I am not far
advanced from computer illiterate. If these questions are incomprehensible
then that might be the explanation.

We have 4 staff, each with their own stand alone computers. I am going to
acquire four new computers. Those in my office tell me that I need to change
the current arrangement to an office network.

What is wrong with what you have now? Why would you want to change
what you have? Does what you have work? Would you prefer more
peformance? If so, how would you like an increase in performance? How
will buying 4 new PC's help your business perform better? How would
you like your business to peform better?

The use will be e-mail, web searching and small accounting system.

How do you currently use email? Does everyone have a modem? Do you use
a centralised server for distributing email?

What about web serching? IS that done via individual dial up accounts
too?

What accounting system do you use?

The questions I would like to answer for the new office network are

1. is a server as well as the 4 desk tops a good idea. ie what would a
server add? Is it just the ability to view/access others files? What are the
relative advantages and disadvantages of adding a server eg accessibility
and cost effectiveness?

How long is a piece of string? If my string was longer, could i do
more? If the string was shorter, would i save more money? Perhaps
several peices of string would distribute the load better?

2. Is Celeron or AMD preferable vis-a-vis pentium 4.

I prefer the short string.

3. Are there any issues bout these being accessible and cost effective?

I dont think you really know what you want here, that is the big
issue. Buying 4 new computers just becuase your staff want them may
not be the right thing to do. You need to tell us your problems rather
than asking for advice on something that no one here can answer. What
has prompted you to investigate buying new PC's?

IT is my life now, and one thing i can assure you is that 95% of my
customers do not know, nor understand what they want. You need to
analyse your business before you ask questions. Have a good solid
think about where your problems are, then use that as a grounding to
ask questions. Think aboout how you can increase performance, and this
may lay in buying PC's that dont crash or a faster.

You boffin may be trying to sell you his business. You need to focus
on your business.

 

[spodosaurus]

I am interested in getting views on a proposed office network. I have taken
some advice from a boffin but have no way of checking whether that advice is
good or bad. I am hoping that the collective brains trust in these groups
might shed some light on the subject. Please bear in mind that I am not far
advanced from computer illiterate. If these questions are incomprehensible
then that might be the explanation.

We have 4 staff, each with their own stand alone computers. I am going to
acquire four new computers. Those in my office tell me that I need to change
the current arrangement to an office network.

The use will be e-mail, web searching and small accounting system.

The questions I would like to answer for the new office network are

1. is a server as well as the 4 desk tops a good idea. ie what would a
server add? Is it just the ability to view/access others files? What are the
relative advantages and disadvantages of adding a server eg accessibility
and cost effectiveness?

2. Is Celeron or AMD preferable vis-a-vis pentium 4.

3. Are there any issues bout these being accessible and cost effective?

Thank you.

Sam

Is your business already wired for networking? If not, are you going to
try wireless or have it professionally wired for gigabit ethernet? I'd
recommend the latter, especially if you're going to be having the
desktops connect to a server for user data and such.

Ari

--
spammage trappage: remove the underscores to reply

I'm going to die rather sooner than I'd like. I tried to protect my
neighbours from crime, and became the victim of it. Complications in
hospital following this resulted in a serious illness. I now need a bone
marrow transplant. Many people around the world are waiting for a marrow
transplant, too. Please volunteer to be a marrow donor:
http://www.abmdr.org.au/
http://www.marrow.org/

 

[Damien McBain]

The Real Andy committed to the eternal aether...:

What is wrong with what you have now? Why would you want to change
what you have? Does what you have work? Would you prefer more
peformance? If so, how would you like an increase in performance? How
will buying 4 new PC's help your business perform better? How would
you like your business to peform better?



How do you currently use email? Does everyone have a modem? Do you use
a centralised server for distributing email?

What about web serching? IS that done via individual dial up accounts
too?

What accounting system do you use?


How long is a piece of string? If my string was longer, could i do
more? If the string was shorter, would i save more money? Perhaps
several peices of string would distribute the load better?


I prefer the short string.


I dont think you really know what you want here, that is the big
issue. Buying 4 new computers just becuase your staff want them may
not be the right thing to do. You need to tell us your problems rather
than asking for advice on something that no one here can answer. What
has prompted you to investigate buying new PC's?

IT is my life now, and one thing i can assure you is that 95% of my
customers do not know, nor understand what they want. You need to
analyse your business before you ask questions. Have a good solid
think about where your problems are, then use that as a grounding to
ask questions. Think aboout how you can increase performance, and this
may lay in buying PC's that dont crash or a faster.

You boffin may be trying to sell you his business. You need to focus
on your business.

I'd be amazed if anyone would actually buy anything from a pretentious
smart arse like you m8.

 

[Deadly Ernest]

I am interested in getting views on a proposed office network. I have taken
some advice from a boffin but have no way of checking whether that advice is
good or bad. I am hoping that the collective brains trust in these groups
might shed some light on the subject. Please bear in mind that I am not far
advanced from computer illiterate. If these questions are incomprehensible
then that might be the explanation.

We have 4 staff, each with their own stand alone computers. I am going to
acquire four new computers. Those in my office tell me that I need to change
the current arrangement to an office network.

The use will be e-mail, web searching and small accounting system.

The questions I would like to answer for the new office network are

1. is a server as well as the 4 desk tops a good idea. ie what would a
server add? Is it just the ability to view/access others files? What are the
relative advantages and disadvantages of adding a server eg accessibility
and cost effectiveness?

2. Is Celeron or AMD preferable vis-a-vis pentium 4.

3. Are there any issues bout these being accessible and cost effective?

Thank you.

Sam

First ask yourself

What are the business needs in this operation?
What are the identified WORK problems with the
current situation - If it aint broke dont fix it?
Does everybody need to have email access?
Does everybody need to have Internet access?
Will time be lost to personal or general surfing?
What will or could be stored on a server?
What programs need to be accessable by more than
one person?
Do you really need new computers?

I have often been consulted by small enterprises with
these same ideas and found that many did not need to
make any changes beyond buying a switch and network cards
to allow internal message sending.

Where you go will depend upon those answers. You can also
have a local network without it having to be on the Internet.

I know a small business where only one machine is connected
to the Internet for corporate emails and business surfing -
it is shared by all staff.

Many small operations find it more productive to use an
accounting package that sits on a server and the staff all
access it from the server via the local network. Often this
means a new version of the software that allows this.

If setting up a network you need Network Interface Cards
in each machine and a switch to connect them, cable connection
provides better security - wifi provides easier rearrangement.

If making major changes you may wish to consider alternative
software etc. Using Linux you could save lots of money on
the licence fees for the basic software and get by with lower
level equipment.

There are many arguements for and against particular hardware,
most are personal preference and experience only. All are
reasonable but you should be guided by the requirements of the
software that you intend to use.

If you are based anywhere in the Riverina I would be happy to
provide a proper analysis and quote.

But keep in mind the computers are a tool to assist your
business needs not staff toys.

 

[spodosaurus]

The Real Andy committed to the eternal aether...:




I'd be amazed if anyone would actually buy anything from a pretentious
smart arse like you m8.

I've read his post, and found most of his comments and questions to be
pretty relevant for the OP and things I was wondering about, too. What
did you take issue with?

Cheers,

Ari

--
spammage trappage: remove the underscores to reply

I'm going to die rather sooner than I'd like. I tried to protect my
neighbours from crime, and became the victim of it. Complications in
hospital following this resulted in a serious illness. I now need a bone
marrow transplant. Many people around the world are waiting for a marrow
transplant, too. Please volunteer to be a marrow donor:
http://www.abmdr.org.au/
http://www.marrow.org/

 

[Rod Speed]

Damien McBain wrote

I've read his post, and found most of his comments and questions to be pretty
relevant for the OP and things I was wondering about, too. What did you take
issue with?

McBain is just another pathetically bitter and twisted drunk.

 

[swanny]

I am interested in getting views on a proposed office network. I have taken
some advice from a boffin but have no way of checking whether that advice is
good or bad. I am hoping that the collective brains trust in these groups
might shed some light on the subject. Please bear in mind that I am not far
advanced from computer illiterate. If these questions are incomprehensible
then that might be the explanation.

We have 4 staff, each with their own stand alone computers. I am going to
acquire four new computers. Those in my office tell me that I need to change
the current arrangement to an office network.

The use will be e-mail, web searching and small accounting system.

The questions I would like to answer for the new office network are

1. is a server as well as the 4 desk tops a good idea. ie what would a
server add? Is it just the ability to view/access others files? What are the
relative advantages and disadvantages of adding a server eg accessibility
and cost effectiveness?

2. Is Celeron or AMD preferable vis-a-vis pentium 4.

3. Are there any issues bout these being accessible and cost effective?

Thank you.

Sam

A server can be a good idea provided you are able to maintain it. It's a
good idea to have some kind of UPS to power the server throughout short
power blackouts and brownouts, and to gracefully shut it down when the
power is out for extended periods.

A server can add:
- file sharing.
- centralised backups.
- email server. The desktops send the email to your server which is
responsible for sending it on to the destination, as well as receiving
all the email in the background, and the desktops access the server to
receive email. You can also add virus and spam filtering to your local
server. Also means that local (internal) email does not need to go out
over the Internet.
- local dns cache, which can speed up Internet accesses.
- dhcp server.
- internal web server for intranet web pages.
- centralised application serving/sharing, which could include web based
applications on the internal web server.

 

[The Real Andy]

Sam wrote:

A server can be a good idea provided you are able to maintain it. It's a
good idea to have some kind of UPS to power the server throughout short
power blackouts and brownouts, and to gracefully shut it down when the
power is out for extended periods.

I find that for a significatn percentage of small business that a UPS
is a mere waste of time. A decent ups costs a lot, and needs to be
maintained. Neither of which small business are usually interesed. A
good surge supressor will usually suffice.

A server can add:
- file sharing.
- centralised backups.
- email server. The desktops send the email to your server which is
responsible for sending it on to the destination, as well as receiving
all the email in the background, and the desktops access the server to
receive email. You can also add virus and spam filtering to your local
server. Also means that local (internal) email does not need to go out
over the Internet.
- local dns cache, which can speed up Internet accesses.
- dhcp server.
- internal web server for intranet web pages.
- centralised application serving/sharing, which could include web based
applications on the internal web server.

A standard workstation can do all the above. The question how much
data needs tp be shared, that will determine when and where a server
is appropriate.

 

[The Real Andy]

The Real Andy committed to the eternal aether...:


I'd be amazed if anyone would actually buy anything from a pretentious
smart arse like you m8.

Funny that, i usually find that business like it when i ask them what
they need and force them to question what they really need. I used to
outsell the sales guys in my last job, and guess who always landed the
big contracts?

 

[Alex Gibson]

I am interested in getting views on a proposed office network. I have taken
some advice from a boffin but have no way of checking whether that advice
is
good or bad. I am hoping that the collective brains trust in these groups
might shed some light on the subject. Please bear in mind that I am not
far
advanced from computer illiterate. If these questions are incomprehensible
then that might be the explanation.

We have 4 staff, each with their own stand alone computers. I am going to
acquire four new computers. Those in my office tell me that I need to
change
the current arrangement to an office network.

The use will be e-mail, web searching and small accounting system.

The questions I would like to answer for the new office network are

1. is a server as well as the 4 desk tops a good idea. ie what would a
server add? Is it just the ability to view/access others files? What are
the
relative advantages and disadvantages of adding a server eg accessibility
and cost effectiveness?

Store email, store company documents so they are available
to all, center point of document storage and for sales information ,
records(database) etc
that can be more easily backed up than four or more seperate computers.

A decent network switch with spare ports in case you need to add more pcs.

A good hardware firewall for your net connection.
Software firewalls on all machines.
Anti-virus on all machines.
Anti-spyware on all machines.

Update all antivirus, antispyware at least once a week.

2. Is Celeron or AMD preferable vis-a-vis pentium 4.

Unless you are using it as a processing server
makes really no difference what processor for
office use. Cost and reliability are more important.

Probably worth your while to go with Sun , Dell , IBM or HP
with a three year service contract.
Any problems you just ring them,rather than having to fix it yourself.

Depends on your location , if regional go with the company
that can give local support (including local computer shops).

3. Are there any issues bout these being accessible and cost effective?

Thank you.

Sam

I would also suggest , getting a ups (uninterruptible power supply),
and tape back up drive.

Back up the pcs once a month, the server twice a week.

 

[swanny]

I find that for a significatn percentage of small business that a UPS
is a mere waste of time. A decent ups costs a lot, and needs to be
maintained. Neither of which small business are usually interesed. A
good surge supressor will usually suffice.





A standard workstation can do all the above. The question how much
data needs tp be shared, that will determine when and where a server
is appropriate.

Why would you put an email server and web server on a workstation? If it
is powered down when the user goes home, no-one gets any email??

 

[swanny]

I find that for a significatn percentage of small business that a UPS
is a mere waste of time. A decent ups costs a lot, and needs to be
maintained. Neither of which small business are usually interesed. A
good surge supressor will usually suffice.

With storms and trees causing power cables to short and periodically
dropping the power out, I found that haveing the servers reset several
times an hour a real pain. Since I put a UPS on each I've had no
problems. Maybe your experience is different.

 

[Leo]

Funny that, i usually find that business like it when i ask them what
they need and force them to question what they really need. I used to
outsell the sales guys in my last job, and guess who always landed the
big contracts?

Yes but do you have any friends, and where do you buy those extra large
hats.........er,..just askin,
cough....Leo

 

[Alex Gibson]

I find that for a significatn percentage of small business that a UPS
is a mere waste of time. A decent ups costs a lot, and needs to be
maintained. Neither of which small business are usually interesed. A
good surge supressor will usually suffice.

Depends if outages starting costing them cash / loose sales etc

Really would depend on location and reliability of power in the area.

I'm sure lots of UPS's got sold when Victoria was
having all those brownout hassles a while back.

A decent quality pc power supply seems to make a difference with
some of the very short outages we seem to get a lot of in summer.

Pc with budget / cheap power supply goes down then reboots
decent quality power supply, pc keeps humming a long.
Ended up getting a ups to avoid hassles.

Probably getting close to needing a new battery soon.

Alex

 

[nbs]

star network topology you say. and the other choices would be...?