upgrading and repairing PCs technicians ... - 400 Bad Request

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Table 11.1 Comparing Client/Server and Peer-to-Peer Networking
Continued
Chapter 11—Networking
Item Client/Server Peer-to-Peer
Backup Centralized when data is stored Left to user decision; usually
on server; allows use of high- mixture of backup devices and
speed, high-capacity tape
backups with advanced
cataloging.
practices at each workstation.
Redundancy Duplicate power supplies, hot- No true redundancy among
swappable drive arrays, and either peer “servers” or clients;
even redundant servers are failures require manual intervencommon;
network OS normally tion to correct with high possicapable
of using redundant
devices automatically.
bility of data loss.
If you choose any form of Ethernet network hardware for your
peer-to-peer network, you can upgrade to a client/server network
later by adding a server with the appropriate network operating system.
Your existing network cards, cables, and other hardware can
still be used with the new server.
Choosing Network Hardware and
Software
In this section, you’ll receive a detailed checklist of the hardware
and software you need to build your network. Although many
options are available on the market for network hardware, this discussion
assumes that you will be choosing Fast Ethernet hardware
that can also work with standard Ethernet networks (“dual-speed”
10/100 cards and hubs). This is the most popular and cost-effective
network currently available.
First, start with the number of computers you plan to network
together. You need the items discussed in the following section to
set up your network.
NIC
One network interface card (NIC) is required for every computer on
the network. To simplify technical support, buy the same model of
NIC for each computer in a peer-to-peer workgroup network.
Today, the best price-performance combination is Fast Ethernet
(100BASE-TX) NICs. You should choose dual-speed (10/100) versions
of these cards to enable interconnection with standard
10Mbps Ethernet networks.
You should record the brand name and model number of the
NIC(s) you are using, as well as the driver version or source. Use
Table 11.2 as a guide.