Question

any solutions for dealing with the max. connections in a workgroup and xp pro?

Asked by: babaganoosh

We are getting close to the 10 connection limit on our xp pro acting as a file & print server in a workgroup environment.  I am trying to think of options and came up with these.  Can you tell me if they are valid and which is the best:

First, according to this:

http://support.microsoft.com/search/preview.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q314882

even if you map to shared drives and shared printers, the 'connection' to the xp pro terminates after 15 min?  So you could have 15+ users on the lan, all mapped to the server and if they go to the server infrequently, the connections keep terminating and you are playing the odds that no more than 10 will have connected within the 15 minutes (I'd shorten that to 10?)!

But they do have some accounging packages that people are in most of the day and a bunch in the office use them.  so as a file server, they would likely go over 10 at some point... so.....

1) install a snap server for file sharing.  Still use the xp pro as a print server?  (the chance that 10 people out of 12 - 13 need to print all at the same time, is RARE... that assumes, again, taht they all have the printer mapped, but that 15 min after mapping the printer, the connection times out untill they go to print?  is that a valid statement?!).

2) upgrade to 2000 server with 15 CAL?

Surprisingly, both options - the snap and the 2000 server upgrade (is xp pro to 2000 server an upgrade for software purchase purposes?) seem to come in comparably priced... makes the decision harder.

This Question has been solved and asker verified All Experts Exchange premium technology solutions are available to subscription members.

Subscribe now for full access to Experts Exchange and get

Instant Access to this Solution

  • Plus...
  • 30 Day FREE access, no risk, no obligation
  • Collaborate with the world's top tech experts
  • Unlimited access to our exclusive solution database
  • Never be left without tech help again

Subscribe Now

Asked On
2003-01-26 at 21:17:49ID20482673
Tags

max

,

connections

,

xp

,

pro

Topic

Windows Networking

Participating Experts
5
Points
100
Comments
16

Trusted by hundreds of thousands everyday for fast, accurate and reliable tech support.

  • "The time we save is the biggest benefit of Experts Exchange to Warner Bros. What could take multiple guys 2 hours or more each to find is accessed in around 15 minutes on Experts Exchange." Mike Kapnisakis, Warner Bros.
  • "Our team likes having a resource that is more secure than just using Google and most experts using this service really know their stuff. It's nice to look here first versus using Google." Dayna Sellner, Lockheed Martin
  • "Anytime that I've been stumped with a problem, 9 out of 10 times Experts Exchange has either the accepted solution or an open discussion of the potential solution to the problem." Kenny Red, eBay Inc.

See what Experts Exchange can do for you.

Got a question?

We've got the answer.

Experts Exchange has been collecting answers to technology questions since 1996…3 million and counting! If you have a question, chances are we already have your answer.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Need individual assistance?

Our experts are ready to help.

If you can't find the exact answer you're looking for, ask our exclusive community of 50,000 experts. You’ll get a personalized answer from a trusted professional.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Want to learn from the best?

Read articles from industry experts.

Thousands of free tech tips, tricks, how-to’s and tutorials are available in our peer reviewed articles section. See for yourself how smart our experts are, no login required.

Screenshot of an Article

Working on a long term project?

Store your work and research.

Save solutions to your questions, answers you’ve discovered through searching plus helpful articles in your personal knowledgebase for easy future access.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Access the answers to your technology questions today.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

What Makes Experts Exchange Unique?

Members of the expert community talk about why the experience at Experts Exchange is different than what you will find anywhere else.

Trusted by the world's most respected brands.

image of each brand's logo

Faithfully serving IT professionals since 1996.

Experts Exchange Logo

Try it out and discover for yourself.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

Related Solutions

  1. TS Device CAL and User CAL combo
    Hi. How can I configure my 2003 Terminal SErver to have both device CAL's and user cals? how do you assign the users? Thanks! ST
  2. Licensing 101 - which type of CALs would I want?
    I am working on my first SBS 2K3 project so this is likely the first of several questions I'll be posting : ) The site will have 9 XP Pro desktops, 2 network printers and 1 SBS Standard edition server. This is an office environment where there are 9 users and each has their...
  3. sql concurrent connections - cals - users
    I have an application that uses msde sql server where it has problem with cuncurrent connections, so I want get a sql full version, let say sql std 2005. does it have restriction on the connections or creating users in the databases? what is th CAL for?
  4. How to install purshased CALs into windows 2003
    I have purshased 2003 enterprise and a seperate CALs, witch i recieaved in a sealed envolop, there is a document with a taking number on it, so I did not know how to install those into my server, please help, in booooooring details please....!!!!

Free Tech Articles

  1. WARNING: 5 Reasons why you should NEVER fix a computer for free.
    It is in our nature to love the puzzle. We are obsessed. The lot of us. We love puzzles. We love the challenge. We thrive on finding the answer. We hate disarray. It bothers us deep in our soul. W...
  2. SCCM OSD Basic troubleshooting
    SCCM 2007 OSD is a fantastic way to deploy operating systems, however, like most things SCCM issues can sometimes be difficult to resolve due to the sheer volume of logs to sift through and the dispe...
  3. Migrate Small Business Server 2003 to Exchange 2010 and Windows 2008 R2
    This guide is intended to provide step by step instructions on how to migrate from Small Business Server 2003 to Windows 2008 R2 with Exchange 2010. For this migration to work you will need the fo...
  4. Create a Win7 Gadget
    This article shows you how to create a simple "Gadget" -- a sort of mini-application supported by Windows 7 and Vista. Gadgets can be dropped anywhere on the desktop to provide instant information, ...
  5. Outlook continually prompting for username and password
    There have been a lot of questions recently regarding Outlook prompting for a username and password whilst using Exchange 2007. There are a few reasons why this would happen and I will try to cover t...
  6. Backup Exchange 2010 Information Store using Windows Backup
    There seems to be quite a lot of confusion around the ability to backup Exchange 2010 using the built in Windows Backup feature. This stems from the omission of this feature prior to Exchange 2007 s...

Cloud Class Webinars

  1. Avoiding Bugs in Microsoft Access
    Alison Balter takes and in-depth look at avoiding bugs in Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the immediate window to debug your applications, invoking the debugger, using breakpoints to troubleshoot, stepping through code, setting the next statement to execute, ...
  2. Top 10 Best New Features in Visio 2010
    Scott Helmers gives live demonstrations of the top 10 new features in Visio 2010. This webinar will teach you how to create compelling diagrams by adding shapes to the page with a single click, linking the shapes in a diagram to data in Excel (or SQL Server, or SharePoint), ...
  3. IT Consultant Business Secrets Revealed
    Michael Munger, Experts Exchange tech pro and IT consultant, pulls back the curtain on his very successful businesses and answers question on every IT consultant and business owner should know about. He shares secrets on what he did to solve the 5 most common problems in IT, ...
  4. Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity
    Quest CTO, Mike Billon, gives an overview of the steps involved in building a dunamic disaster recovery plan. Through case studies and an examination of software/hardware tooles for monitoring and testing, you'll gain a better understandin of where you are, where you want ...
  5. Organize Your Visio Diagrams with Containers and Lists
    Scott Helmers uses cross functional flowcharts, wireframe diagrams, data graphic legends and seating charts to teach you: how to ustilize all three new structured diagram components in Visio 2010, the best practices for organizeing shapes in previous version of Visio, how to organize ...
  6. How to Us Objects, Properties, Events and Methods in Microsoft Access
    Alison Dalter gives an in-depbth look at objects, properties, events and methods in Microsoft Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the object browser, referring to objects, working with properties and methods, working with object variables, understanding the ...

Join the Community

Give a Little. Get a Lot.

Join the community of experts here and help other tech pros by answering question in your area of expertise. You can earn FREE access to all Experts Exchange's premium features and resources.

Join the Community

Answers

 

by: netnightmarePosted on 2003-01-26 at 23:48:28ID: 7819408

I would definatly go for the 2000 server, you can run all your services from it and it will make your administration so much easier. Trying to have 10+ connections to a machine running a desktop operating system isn't really an option. Use this machine for your print server as well as it really isn't going to be under that much load with only 10-15 clients attached to it.

Dave

 

by: babaganooshPosted on 2003-01-27 at 04:28:35ID: 7820683

We are really relaxed about seccurity, etc.  If we go the snap server route, we wind up with this xp pro machine (a dual xeon workstation), still being available as a machine.  If we upgrade it to server, it's pretty much dedicated to serving.

 

by: SysExpertPosted on 2003-01-27 at 10:04:42ID: 7824039

Other option is to get a Linux Server running and use SAMBA.
This will provide sharing and you can also use it as a print server if needed.

I hope this helps !

 

by: NTBSODPosted on 2003-01-29 at 02:09:15ID: 7836386

On the other hand, if you have ample disk space as well as ram, you can also run a virtual PC, such as Connectix (sp) Virtual PC, which runs very well under Windows XP and load up W2K Server that way...

That way, you can preserve your XP settings on the dual Xeon and have a server running as well.

I have experimented w/ VirtualPC and it has worked very well in the test environment, but it was never put into production since the company that I was working with went under before the project completed.

 

by: babaganooshPosted on 2003-01-29 at 04:16:50ID: 7836971

When I've used Google to find answers to questions, very frequently, this website came up in the search and had good answers.  So I thought this would be a good place to post a question like this.  I am real disappointed - I present the 2 approaches that I know and feel comfortable implimenting.  you guys ignore one completely and come up with other options that have probably higher costs (Samba - that's an app you have to buy or is it open source?  Linux has a cost in time to understand it to implement it.  And Connectix?!  Doesn't hit me as being mainstream and what do I gain there - I still have to buy server AND Connectix and maybe some ram too!?).

I feel like I am in a Dilbert cartoon strip - consultants that throw out answers that don't have much applicability to the situation / aren't the most cost effective.  Sorry if you are trying to be helpful.  I am trying to get an answer. While I am open to other ideas, I don't want to trade dollars for time in having to learn / hire someone just to install a free operating system that winds up costing more in the end.  And the Connectix idea?!  Server is overkill because of the lack of need for security and being a workgroup using just file sharing. TO layer another app on top of that just boggles my mind.



 

by: NTBSODPosted on 2003-01-29 at 18:05:10ID: 7842658

I'm sorry that you don't think that our ideas are of any use. AS I have pointed out... my solution works great in a TEST environment. I had only posted that to give you a perspective. If you don't like it, so be it. No harm done.

If you have read carefully, I had also mentioned that "If you have ample disk space as well as ram"... In my test environment, I had Connectix running on a WinXP box, with 1 P3 1Ghz CPU and 512 MB of Ram, which is more than sufficient if you want to run only 1 virtual server.

Also, server is NOT overkill especially if you are running into that 10 concurrent user limit. The server issue was only brought up because you mentioned the possibility of upgrading to Win2K Server.

I am trying to be very civil here, but if you want to pick a bone, go pick it somewhere else. On the other hand, if you want good and possibly useful advise, stay.

Have a nice day.

 

by: netnightmarePosted on 2003-01-29 at 23:29:06ID: 7843918

You asked for opinions on adding a server >

2) upgrade to 2000 server with 15 CAL?

Which I responded to with the suggestion that this was probably the best course, the other guys have just expanded to give other options for you, so what exactly did you want, some kind of "FREE MIRACLE CURE"?



 

by: babaganooshPosted on 2003-01-30 at 05:17:03ID: 7845368

I was looking for a comparison of the pros and cons between these 2 options... Sure, 2K server is an answer.  But what's wrong with the snap server - it's easier to maintain, frees up the PC that is now being used as a server and doesn't have the 10 connection limit issue.

I guess I was hoping for someone to address the issue of print mapping counting towards the 10 connections (which it does), but does the connection count drop after 15 minutes of inactivity?:

Still use the xp pro as a print server?  (the chance that 10 people out of 12 - 13 need to print all at the same time, is RARE... that assumes, again, taht they all have the printer mapped, but that 15 min after mapping the printer, the connection times out untill they go to print?  is that a valid statement?!).

It's a small office and it's a hard sell to the boss to spend loads of money on server because they have a couple people more than the arbitrary limit that Microsoft has on XP pro.

 

by: netnightmarePosted on 2003-01-30 at 10:38:13ID: 7847841

A copy of Server will only cost you about 500 quid, IMHO it would be money well spent for your situation but that is only my opinion. I think if you're expanding a network that already has 10 PCs connected you don't really have many options if you want everything to run smoothly.

Dave

 

by: babaganooshPosted on 2003-01-30 at 19:01:54ID: 7850457

where you getting server for $500?  And that needs to be a total of 15 CAL...

I am leaning towards the server approach,  but $500?!

 

by: NTBSODPosted on 2003-01-30 at 22:36:07ID: 7851217

That's 500 Quid, or 500 English Pounds (?)... I think that's for just the server OS and 5 CAL.

You are probably look at around 2Gs for the OS and the 15 Cals, but I am not sure since I dont deal w/ the purchasing part of the business. I just tell them what I need and they get it for me. :)

 

by: netnightmarePosted on 2003-01-30 at 23:24:12ID: 7851410

I'm looking at trade prices, I can get 2000 server with 5 CALS for £550 plus £150 for 5 additional CALS so you could have the whole lot for £850 plus VAT. If you're in the States try to find a software supplier and set yourself up with a trade account so that you get the discount, I have actually bought software in the States and had it shipped before as it was cheaper. Try DirectDeals.com, this is where I have bought software and had it imported http://www.directdeals.com/productslist.aspx?CategoryID=OSWin2k

Dave

 

by: lrmoorePosted on 2003-02-05 at 21:37:01ID: 7888576

If you want to add a snap server for file services (good idea in my opinion), you can use an older Win98 box for a print server. No user limits. Or you could use HP JetDirect print servers that plug directly into the lan. Either way, the total cost of ownership is very low compared to installing a Server.

 

by: babaganooshPosted on 2003-02-05 at 21:50:35ID: 7888660

Figuring costs of snap vs. server:  You get into the debate of raid or not?  What's the need for raid if you are good about doing nightly backups?  Loss of time to rebuild system and loss of some data you worked on this AM vs. the cost savings of not needing the snap 2200 / RAID?  ANy thoughts?

 

by: NTBSODPosted on 2003-02-05 at 22:11:30ID: 7888733

Raid or not to Raid... That's the question isnt it? Well... To answer that question, I would pose to you another question, How important is uptime to you?

With a correctly configured Raid, you can almost guarantee a 99.999% uptime, especially if you have a Raid controller and the software to tell you predictive failure on your drives. Barring other hardware problems like your motherboard getting fried or something like that, you will be up most of the time. Even with nightly full backups, you cannot guarantee that the server will come up after a crash.

I guess, what I'm trying to say is this:
Raid is a very good idea, if you want high uptime. Pair that with a good backup scheme, you will be able to keep your server up almost all the time.

As for rebuilding the server, it all depends on what you mean by rebuilding. If you have a good backup scheme as you have implied, then you will probably be down for the duration of reconfiguring the drives and restoring the data (more than likely a weekend's task).

If you are going to put raid into the server, I would suggest the following setup:

1) 2 Drives (mirrored) for the OS
2) 3 Drives or more (Raid-5) for the Data

This is found to be the best way (according to all the research done by Statefarm) for an enterprise class server. But then, we go into the issue of cost... which I think is one of the higher priorities in your situation.

Setting up a JBOD or Spanned drives is not worth getting a raid controller. Since you can do the same at the OS. These setups are not recommended for mission critical systems as well since if one drive in the set dies, the whole set dies.

In the mirror configuration, if one of the drive dies, you will still have the other to rely on. Same goes with the Raid-5 configuration, if one of the drives dies, you will still have the other 2 to rely on. Granted, performance will take a hit, but the server will stay up until you replace the bad drive, granted that the remaining drives dont die on you.

You can read up a lot more about RAID configurations on the net, but if you need more details here, let me know.

-pat

 

by: juliancrawfordPosted on 2003-11-25 at 16:14:43ID: 9821673

No comment has been added lately, so it's time to clean up this TA.            
I will leave a recommendation in the Cleanup topic area that this question is:            

Answered by: netnightmare            
      

Please leave any comments here within the next seven days.            

PLEASE DO NOT ACCEPT THIS COMMENT AS AN ANSWER!            

JulianCrawford            
EE Cleanup Volunteer

20120131-EE-VQP-002

3 Ways to Join

30-Day Free Trial

The Experts

98% positive feedback on 31,087 answers since March 2000. angeliii is a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional for his work with MS SQL Server & Develoment.

He has also proven his knowledge of Visual Basic Programming, PHP Scripting and Oracle Databases.

The Experts

97% positive feedback on 10,752 answers since July 2000. lrmoore has more than 18 years experience in the networking industry.

The six-time Mircosoft MVPs specialties include firewalls, virtual private networking, and network management.

Testimonials

"...and excellent source for support... Kind of like having your very own IT dept." Electriciansnet

Testimonials

"I was apprehensive at signing up at first. However... it has already made my life as an IT administrator much easier." JaCrews

Testimonials

"WOW! You guys have great, active, and knowledgeable people on here." moore50

Business Clients

Business Clients

In the Press

"If you’ve got a question... Experts Exchange can supply an answer.”

In the Press

"...an invaluable aid for both IT professionals and those who require tech support."

In the Press

"where IT professionals provide quick answers on just about any topic"

Business Account Plans

Loading Advertisement...