Network Setup

Are the disconnection regular or occasional? Always between the same workstations and printers?

Here is a link to Microsoft's article about troubleshooting network connections: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/325487/en-us

If you run printers by connecting each printer to a workstation and then sharing them by using "File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks", rather than using printers with their own network cards, or connecting printers to specialised print server appliances, you are limited to maximum 10 simultaneous inbound connections. This is an inbuilt limitation, documented in the KnowledgeBase article http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314882.

The limitation applies to inbound connections to shared folders on workstations. Servers do not have this limitation, but you pay for the convenience through the server licence and Client Access Licences (CALs).

Of course, you can have a look at the Open Source/Free Software environment and decide to run a Samba under Linux without concerns for licences. The name Samba comes from SMB, or Server Message Block, the protocol Windows uses with file and print servers.