I'm consulting for a company who has lost their original IT admin/tech guy but they have purchased 2 server towers & have slated the following to be installed on each:
1. Windows 2003 server w/ Active Directory for 1 domain
- 512 Mb RAM > 2.40 GHz > Intel Pentium (R) IV (x2)
2. Windows XP pro sp2
- 1024 Mb RAM > 2.40 GHz > Intel Pentium (R) IV (x2)
- has a 4 port 10/100 ethernet card + 1 onboard 10/100 ethernet port
I'm assuming that the XPpro 5port computer is to act as a file server since they've got the extra NIC card in there. The files that they serve are really not so big in comparison to many companies. Here's who & what they would be sharing:
- AD totalling abuout 30-80 users max
- 50-100 non editable PDF files (ranging from 1Mb to 100Mb in size)
- a networked inventory/purchasing/tracking database system running on SQL
- an Excel based network program linking to 5-10 excel files
All shared files & db is accessed by almost all network users & almost simultaneously. Most users generate very few files, since the network is in a manufacturing site as opposed to a high file output company like a multimedia company.
My questions:
...what are the security issues with file sharing in this manner? Esp. with file sharing from XPpro?
...is it worthwhile them to upgrade the XPpro OS to another OS like Win2003 for the added cost?
...General Pros & Cons with this setup
...Reasons to pay more & upgrade to a second Windows2003 server
- eg. can have an alternate Domain controller for logins
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Active Directory 2003 paired w/ XPpro Fileserver
14th Feb 2008
Answers (2)
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XP PRO File server
1 major issue is that XP only allows 10 simultaneous connections. Which means if more than ten people want to access the file server at the same time, they wont be able to. Thats one very good reason to upgrade to Windows Server 2003 
14th Feb 2008
Replies
Hi David, Would that be 10 connections to the XP OS or thru each ethernet port?
Hommme
16th Feb 2008
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The four-port ethernet card makes no sense
Especially on a XP pro box (which is a workstation).
More than one Ethernet card can be used for bridging or load sharing using Windows 2003, but not XP.
For a server, it would make more sense to use a Gigabit ethernet adapter versus multiple fast ethernet cards.
Of course if the network topology has multiple VLANS, maybe the thought was to have each network interface in each VLAN???
More than one Ethernet card can be used for bridging or load sharing using Windows 2003, but not XP.
For a server, it would make more sense to use a Gigabit ethernet adapter versus multiple fast ethernet cards.
Of course if the network topology has multiple VLANS, maybe the thought was to have each network interface in each VLAN???
14th Feb 2008
Replies
Hi Robo, Just to clarify, its actually 1 ethernet card with 4 RJ45 ports...ie it plugs into 1 PCI slot on the motherboard.
I would have thought this is used for load sharing on the network (which is only 1 single LAN) with prob. 4 separate IP's to each port. In the future, we will add in a VPN, but even then, we've only got 1 internet connection anyway.
The Gigabyte card would make sense, but the network's hubs are all only 10/100.
Curiously, why will XPpro not load balance properly?
I would have thought this is used for load sharing on the network (which is only 1 single LAN) with prob. 4 separate IP's to each port. In the future, we will add in a VPN, but even then, we've only got 1 internet connection anyway.
The Gigabyte card would make sense, but the network's hubs are all only 10/100.
Curiously, why will XPpro not load balance properly?
Hommme
16th Feb 2008
