Thread: establishing a local area network (two servers and clients)

  1. #1
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    Exclamation establishing a local area network (two servers and clients)

    I am working on a project which has been divided into two phases.the first phase requires designing a local area network having two servers and multiple dumb terminals as their clients.the second phase willl deal with applying distributed computing over the same network.

    to start with i look up at networking basics.then some distributed computing concepts.but now i am stuck at a point where i need to decide whether my selection of physical topology and communication protocols(ethernet or token ring) will affect final distributed application implementation or not.

    also i am not able to decide how to choose between so many connection technologies and networking hardware available.

    i tried to study my institute's network setup but that too didnt turn out of much help.

    hardware availabiity should not be any issue as it is a major project so full support is expected from the institusion.

    i am looking for some guidence in terms of directions which could be followed.

    thanx in advance.
    _________________
    shrijeet

  2. #2
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    ethernet or token ring
    Dont use token ring. It's pretty much an obsolete technology which isn't used by any modern networks.

    also i am not able to decide how to choose between so many connection technologies and networking hardware available.
    Well TCP is always a good place to start. As for hardware, that depends on what kind of load and traffic you plan on handling.

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    I'm not sure I follow your logic on distributed computing. Distributed computing implies that you be offloading some of the processing from a central computer such as an IBM iSeries (formerly AS400) to workstations with a lot of computing horsepower. Dumb terminals as I understand them do not have any processing capabilities.

    Your only real choice as far as a topology is concerned is Ethernet. Token ring is totally obsolete. My shop migrated from token ring to Ethernet 3 years ago because there was absolutely no support for token ring.

    An example of our distributed app, workstations receive data from our midrange system, process the data and finally incorporate that data into a Microsoft Word document for printing. Thus, we are moving some of the processing from the midrange to the workstations.

    I would be more concerned about choosing a distributed app architecture such as client/server, peer to peer, replicated repository etc rather than choosing a network topology.

    Good luck

    Bob

  4. #4
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    Well... You have many different factors here...

    1) Token Ring is not an option, go with Ethernet!
    2) How much money are you ready to spend on the network hardware? Believe me it doesn't come cheap!
    3) If you do buy heavy equepment, will you know how to configure it right?
    4) Wired or Wireless network?
    5) Are you planning to implement a complex network with backup systems and various protocols?
    6) How many clients and server are you planning to have and how are you planning to connect them (connection speed to the network)?
    7) Are you planning to connect your LAN network to the world? Then you will need to secure it with more things, such as a Firewall, Proxy, and maybe a DMZ.

    Network Design Is A Bitch An Expensive Bitch!
    "I don't suffer from insanity but enjoy every minute of it" - Edgar Allen Poe

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