Getting wired: implementing a small office network

Article Abstract:

Users setting up two different LANs begin by considering how much their respective companies are willing to spend on the network and how the network will be used. The planners must decide whether to buy existing file servers, which often come with service contracts and warranties, or whether to build their own servers. Custom-built servers tend to cost less. A custom-made server is also better suited to offices with small staffs and a systems administrator who is available to fix problems. Large companies will need the reliability provided by systems from established vendors. High-speed expansion slots are also an important consideration, and PCI buses make a good choice because they provide high speed data transfers. Typically, only three to four PCI slots are provided on each system board. A system board with both PCI and EISA peripherals slots allows for expansion, although EISA is relatively expensive and hard to configure. A Pentium or Pentium clone is more than adequate as the processor.

Telephone and telegraph apparatus, Electronic computers, Design and construction, Technology application, File servers, Local area networks, LAN, Network File Server Technology

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In search of the top drive

Article Abstract:

A comparison of hard drives reveals that IBM's Ultrastar drives, Fujitsu's Fast Wide SCSI-2 2GB drives and IBM's Fast Wide SCSI-2 2.25GB drives all perform equally well. The selected drives are all SCSI devices, which are created to withstand heavy network use and last longer than EIDE drives. SCSI drives can handle several requests at the same time, while EIDE drives cannot. The Ultrastars offer reliability, speed and sophisticated design. They can also be relatively inexpensive, with a 2.1GB Fast SCSI-2 drive costing about $450 wholesale. Fujitsu's Fast Wide SCSI-2 drives offer sound performance and come with a five-year warranty. A 2GB model costs about $560 wholesale, better than IBM's Fast Wide SCSI-2 drives, which run about $900. Seagate's Barracuda SCSI drives offer performance comparable to the IBM products for a similar price, but their design is outdated, and the customer service is very poor.

Computer storage devices, Evaluation, Product/Service Evaluation, Product information, International Business Machines Corp., IBM, Hardware multiproduct review, Disk drives, Hard disk drive, Hard disk drives, Fujitsu Ltd., Seagate Technology L.L.C., SEGT, Over 3GB Hard Disk Drive, IBM Ultrastar (Hard disk drive), Seagate Technology Barracuda (Hard disk drive)

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