Windows Server

Smith · Guest

Hello to everyone in this newsgroup,

I noticed a slowdown on our sbs2k server. It takes a long time to open
network folders within any program in the office. Tracked it down to three
users, using fast XP PRO workstations, using modeling and GIS software, some
files that they use are over 100mb large, and reside on the server scsi
drives.

When the three users, out of 30 total, don't use the server, network access
is fast again.

Need to use a workstation/desktop to offload some of the load on the server.
I would order a server but need to do this in a pinch.

- Question: What would you guys do?

I was thinking about getting an Intel Box, with XP Pro. The pc would have an
Intel 630 or 660 chip, running at 3.0ghz or higher. 4GB ram. Two 200GB Hard
Drives at Raid 0 (will have a strong backup) and will include a standard ATI
256MB video card. Gigabit NIC. I would add a gigabit Ethernet hub for just
these three pcs, each already has a gigabit nic.

- Question: Will a workstation/desktop be able to handle the 24x7 load?

Need to build something this weekend to solve the slowdown.

- Question: Is using XP PRO for three users a bad idea?

Have never used an XP PRO desktop pc as a server/file sharing for large
files.

Thanks for you advice. I would get another server but time is of the essence
and the owner wants something in several days. Phew.

Smith

Dave Nickason [SBS MVP] · Guest

I would think you could get a server in about the same time as a
workstation. My guess is that your solution would work on a temporary
basis, but I'm not crazy about the idea of using workstation-class hardware
as a server. As your question implies, you're more likely to run into
hardware issues with desktop quality than with something that's designed to
be used 24x7 and by multiple users. I think you're going to want scsi for
this anyway. And, whatever you do, don't forget about backup (usually
another issue with desktop hardware - no scsi for a tape drive).

XP limits simultaneous connections, but I think the limit is 10, so that
shouldn't be an issue.

What I would do is buy some time by any way you can - maybe let the users
work off of local copies until you can get a server, or use a USB 2 external
storage device that connects to your network.

I like the gigabit idea. If you buy an 8-port gig switch, you can connect
all the servers and the 3 workstations to that. Then get a 10/100 switch
with a gigabit uplink port and connect the gig port to the gig switch, for
the rest of the users. I'm using Dell hardware in that way and it works
great.

Are you sure the server is the bottleneck here? If it's your networking
hardware, and you're upgrading that anyway, you might want to do the network
hardware first and see if you see any improvement. Even if you end up
needing to move the large files to their own box, a smaller interim
improvement might buy you the time to wait for server hardware. I actually
doubt the network is the bottleneck, but it wouldn't hurt to figure it out
for sure first.

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