NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #20/NN_1992_20.iso/spool/comp/dcom/servers/79

Internet Message Format | 1992-09-10 | 1.7 KB

Path: sparky!uunet!iphasew!greg
From: [e-mail] (Greg Bulman)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.servers
Subject: disk/file servers vs. number crunchers
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: 11 Sep 92 04:28:16 GMT
Organization: Interphase (West) Corporation, Santa Clara, CA
Lines: 28


I've got a question reqarding a "flat" DOS network.  For simplistic needs
and cost benefits I'm selecting Lantastic networking software.  My real
question regards what DOS systems to use as disk servers and which DOS
systems to use as computational workhorses.

I'll have (2) DOS 80386-33Mz machines and (2) 80286-16Mz machines connected
together.  My first response, due to media hype, is to use the "POWER"
machines as my disk servers, for fast data and application file access.
After thinking about it though, I won't have more than 3 people on at a given
time, and really, disk writes won't be unimaginably frequent.  I'll be
running accounting software (probably exclusively) so the computational
speeds are going to be critical.  So, I thought maybe I'd want the older
machines to be disk servers and have the CPU power of the 386 machines
available for the accounting software.

For those running DOS networks and/or disk servers I request some expertise.
(I already gotten conflicting responses from "salepeople", so thought I'd go
into the field.)   What are the advantages/disadvantages of using the 286
for a file server and 386 for applications?  What about doing the opposite?

Thanks in Advance.
-greg
--
==============================================================================
Greg Bulman                  [phone]   Phone
Interphase Corporation       [phone]   FAX
Santa Clara, CA              [e-mail]  ...!uunet!iphasew!greg