Tips to Consider Before Building a PC Network

More is not necessarily merrier when it comes to personal computers. Install a second computer in an office and all of a sudden you have to worry about how it can share programs and files with the first.

The more machines you add, the more complex the problem becomes. It is well beyond the scope of this column to advise you how to connect a group of computers into a local area network. But I can give some guidance on how to approach the problem.

It’s easiest if all the machines are operationally alike, meaning that they can run not only the same programs but the same monitor and printer configurations of a program, and that they use the same diskettes. Then you can operate the simplest and most reliable network, the “running shoe network,” in which disks are passed from machine to machine as needed.

But even simple differences among peripherals, such as the type of monitor display or the model of a printer, can play havoc with disk sharing. Mixing different styles of keyboards can make life difficult as well. More serious difficulties can occur if you mix IBM PC and XT-type computers with AT-type computers because of differences in diskettes they use. Differing versions of MS-DOS operating programs also can create problems.

Copy Protection

Another consideration is that some programs are copy protected to limit their use to a single computer or to prevent their use on more than one computer at a time. Most software licenses require that you own a separate program for each computer on which it is used, while others limit use to a single person regardless of which computer is used.

Any move beyond disk sharing increases the difficulties exponentially.

Apple Computer has what is probably the easiest network to install in its AppleTalk system for the Macintosh. Its value has just been greatly increased with Apple’s announcement of AppleShare software, which allows a Macintosh to function as a file server, something akin to a central lending library for a network.

But even Apple Chairman John Sculley said the system requires special training for dealers and customers alike to be successfully installed and operated.

The AppleTalk system will soon include a circuit board for PCs allowing them to be connected so that they can share printers and some kinds of data with Macintoshes, but not programs.

A competing network system called TOPS, which connects PCs, Macintoshes and Unix minicomputers, has been developed by Centram Systems West.

Another leader in PC networking is Novell, which publishes software for tying computers together. It offers packages that run on various kinds of networking hardware and cabling systems made by others, including IBM and 3Com, a leading PC network manufacturer.

IBM is focusing on its Token Ring system to connect PC-style machines to each other and to other IBM computers.

At the other end of the PC network spectrum are inexpensive systems that connect computers through their serial printer ports. They are good for printer sharing and swapping data files back and forth, but are too slow for sharing programs. Examples are Knowledge Network and Easy Link.

Before you can decide what system to buy, you need to do a lot of preparation. Begin by compiling a list of which computers or workers you want to connect and why. How many of them need to share data? What kinds of data? Do any need simultaneous access to the same data? Is it a static database or is it constantly being updated? How large is it? How large will it be in a year, in five years? The more detailed you can make this analysis, the better.

Try to estimate how frequently the network will be accessed at peak load. Network access takes place any time someone using a computer on the system requests a program or file that is stored on another computer or causes a file to be stored on another computer. Word processing typically imposes light loads on a network, while multiple workers entering information into a database place a heavy load on the system.

Program Compatibility

Also, you need to determine what programs you now use and what programs you plan to acquire. Are any of your programs able to run on a network? Which network? Many MS-DOS programs introduced during the past year are compatible with networks that are run with MS-DOS 3.0 and later versions. At the same time, some older programs that were designed for networks that operated on earlier MS-DOS, versions 2.0 to 2.2, will not work on later network systems.

As you might glean from this, it may be easier to start from scratch with new software to fit your new network, than to try to incorporate old software.

Once you know your needs, it is time to go shopping. You should first shop for a good vendor. At this point you’re not concerned about which network to buy or how much of a discount you can get, but whether the dealer is competent to sell and install any network. Many dealers are not.

You can be sure that the salesperson will not install your network, so insist on meeting the person who will, and interview that person extensively to determine if he or she has any experience with installations such as yours. Get the names of past customers and question them.

The fact to keep uppermost in your mind during this phase is that the cost of the network hardware and software is negligible compared to the cost of lost productivity if it doesn’t work, or, as some consultants warn may happen, if you have to discard the first system and start over.

By now you should be getting the idea that it takes a lot of careful preparation before you can buy a local area network. If you don’t have the time or skill to make those preparations, or you don’t have somebody on your staff who does, you simply should not install a network.

Training Courses Worthwhile

Even if you hire a consultant to prepare a plan for you, (which may be a good idea), the consultant won’t run it for you, and it takes a lot of skill and time to keep it running properly.

Assuming you get far enough to properly select a vendor, you may find that you are offered a choice among several competing products. If so, give very serious consideration to spending the time and money to attend the training course offered by each network manufacturer to teach users to install and administer the network.

You may find that one system is much easier to learn and use than another, or that one manufacturer does a much better job of training and customer support.

If you don’t take these kinds of painstaking precautions, you may find yourself in this Catch 22 situation: Your dealer has never installed your type of network before and doesn’t understand it, but the network manufacturer refuses to give you any direct help because its policy is to work through the dealer. It’s happened before.