mhovan@gmuvax2.gmu.edu (Mike Hovan) (05/03/91)
We have a small ethernet Novell network (v2.12) setup for some of the programmers where I work. It is an all 286 based network (servers/workstations), although we may have some 386 workstations added in the near future. I can't convince management to ditch all of the 286's, and replace them with 486's. :( But I have convinced them to add some hardware to make it a more useful network. We are adding extended and expanded memory to most of the workstations. We are going to add a large drive to the Server. We currently have a small MFM drive, I was hoping to be able to add a SCSI drive. We are going to add memory to the server to handle the need for a larger directory cache. Now the questions: 1) Can a SCSI and an MFM co-exist in the server in this environment? 2) What SCSI host adapters work well under this version of Netware? (I have used the adaptec 154[02]-[AB] under Unix, and would be happy to use them.) Do I need drivers? 3) Is 1k per 1meg of disk space the amount of memory to add for a new disk? Does adding more than this help anything? 4) Are there any VAP's that handle full disk caching? (The MFM drive is pretty slow) 5) Is there a networkable version of 1-2-3 available? (Something with a 1 user license is fine.) A related question: How do network tape drives work? Do you just mount a tape in them at the file server, and then access them as if they were another volume? Thanks, Mike -- |X|X| "Women, Michael Andrew Hovan III |X|X| |X| Can't live with them, mhovan@gmuvax2.gmu.edu |X| |X| Can't fry them in a WOK!" George Mason University |X| |X|X| -- MTV Half-Hour Comedy Hour Fairfax, Virginia, USA |X|X|
Jons@cup.portal.com (Jonathan S Spangler) (05/03/91)
> > 1) Can a SCSI and an MFM co-exist in the server in > this environment? Yes. > 2) What SCSI host adapters work well under this version > of Netware? (I have used the adaptec 154[02]-[AB] > under Unix, and would be happy to use them.) Do I > need drivers? I have worked with the Storage Dimensions SCSI stuff -- yes, it's a bit more to pay, but probably worth it in the long run. BTW, they use Future Domain controllers (among others). They also have recently announced some bus master SCSI controllers that perform very well, even under 286 NetWare. > 3) Is 1k per 1meg of disk space the amount of memory to > add for a new disk? Does adding more than this help > anything? Under 286 NetWare, there *is* such a thing as too much memory. My NetWare v2.2 manual gives the following limits: Minimum RAM= 2.5Mb Maximum Ram= 12Mb. As a general rule though, 1K per Mb is a good measure. > 4) Are there any VAP's that handle full disk caching? > (The MFM drive is pretty slow) i The VADD from Storage Dimensions takes full advantage of NetWare's caching. This is more a function of the OS than a function of the disk driver (unless, of course, we are talking about hardware caching). > 5) Is there a networkable version of 1-2-3 available? > (Something with a 1 user license is fine.) Yes. > A related question: > > How do network tape drives work? Do you just mount a > tape in them at the file server, and then access them > as if they were another volume? > This can get very expensive, very quickly. There are some tape manufacturers that allow the tape drive to be installed in the server. Emerald has a package combo (hardware/software) that allows this. Wangtek and Adic are also good tape backup buddies of Novell. If cost is an issue though, put the tape drive on a workstation and do backup from there. You can get 250Mb tape drives pretty reasonably these days. >Thanks, > Mike >-- > |X|X| "Women, Michael Andrew Hovan III |X|X| > |X| Can't live with them, mhovan@gmuvax2.gmu.edu |X| > |X| Can't fry them in a WOK!" George Mason University |X| > |X|X| -- MTV Half-Hour Comedy Hour Fairfax, Virginia, USA |X|X| Hope this helps out. Aloha, Jonathan jons@cup.portal.com
zark@csd4.csd.uwm.edu (Steven M Kosloske) (05/04/91)
In article <41957@cup.portal.com> Jons@cup.portal.com (Jonathan S Spangler) writes: >> 2) What SCSI host adapters work well under this version >> of Netware? (I have used the adaptec 154[02]-[AB] >> under Unix, and would be happy to use them.) Do I >> need drivers? > >I have worked with the Storage Dimensions SCSI stuff -- yes, it's a bit >more to pay, but probably worth it in the long run. BTW, they use >Future Domain controllers (among others). They also have recently >announced some bus master SCSI controllers that perform very well, even >under 286 NetWare. I agree. The Storage Dimensions SCSI drives and cards are your best bet. WE use 8 bit SCSI cards, and they are very quick. The 16 bit cards are supposedly 20-25% faster than these. > >> 3) Is 1k per 1meg of disk space the amount of memory to >> add for a new disk? Does adding more than this help >> anything? > >Under 286 NetWare, there *is* such a thing as too much memory. >My NetWare v2.2 manual gives the following limits: Minimum RAM= 2.5Mb >Maximum Ram= 12Mb. As a general rule though, 1K per Mb is a good measure. > I would recommend a base of 2.5MB, and add another 1MB of RAM for every 250MB of drive space. This may seem a little high, but RAM is cheap, and Novell will use all the RAM you can feed it. The more Cache buffers you have, the better. Our big server has 900MB of drive space, and 8 MB of RAM. Just my 2 cents worth. -- (Steve Kosloske) | "If you want it today, you can ------------------------------------| have it, but don't expect it Internet: zark@csd4.csd.uwm.edu | tomorrow. " - Mike Pluta UUCP: uunet!zark@csd4.csd.uwm.edu |