Wow, a lot to weigh in on.
@Brian Thanks for your kind words about my technological prowess. And, I do like to help when I can. As to the No Spam thing, I see it wasn't as helpful as it should have been. Basically, one should never type an email on the Internet just as it is, i.e. spiderman@spidey.web Hundreds, if not thousands, email bots roam message boards gathering up emails at a rate that is astonishing. Therefore at technological website where I am embarrassed to say I hang out often, most understand the value of typing badams_remove at riverviewpediatrics.org. At this point, no bot can figure out to actually remove the underscore and remove and use the @ sign. I find myself here explaining a bit, because I assume some won't understand and will actually email me at the "cloaked" email address so I either put no spam at the end to help (which actually cloaks even more) or I actually spell out what to do. Often when computer geeks put cloaked or stealthed email address in their profiles, they don't explain it, but I always feel I need to when I include the email here. Once again, long explanation to a simple question.
@Wayne I generally call you Wayne, but every once in awhile I get confused with Wendell, and then I don't want to do either. I agree with Brian, and we have started a movement which generally dies out after a week to get people to have signature lines which are helpful and in Brian and Roy's case -- funny as well. And, as you see, once you have one, you don't need to type Wayne in lol. Once cautionary note though that I don't like. When you change your signature, it immediately changes it throughout the entire board so that all of your signatures are changed. So, for example, if I were to change my signature to spiderman @ spidey.web just for a bit of added fun with Brian, now everyone reading any of my posts elsewhere would wonder why the hell is that there.
@Vanessa Wayne is certainly correct that a peer-to-peer is all you need for all the reasons he gives. There are a few themes that run through these boards (the number one them being do you fax digitally or what....), but the peer-to-peer vs server/client comes up all the time. You should know that the software, Amazing Charts, isn't truly a server-client software anyway.
But, however, let me put my two centers in for encouraging you to use a dedicated server which you use for your network. First, as Wayne mentioned, a server which you specify at Dell or HP for example is a special computer which differs from workstations due to far increased throughput (the bottleneck of computing speeds) and redundancy. A good server run correctly needs to be rebooted about once every four months rather than the once every four hours of Windows XP, etc. (a slight exaggeration). But, the other part of a server is server software, which is more expensive (but not much) and is designed to run on a server computer. From here on in, the word server means a computer designed to be a server and not a workstation used only for a server. It is important to note that either type of server should be used only for the applications and should not be used as a workstation. There are reasons for this, and I highly recommend not running the actually databases of AC on a computer one is using.
One thing that is not noted on this subject many times is one should not only look at his or her LAN (network) as it relates to AC (a rather simple application) but also in context with what else you want to do with you network. For instance, we run other applications such as our PM, Medware, Outlook, Scheduling software, software to file digital applications, a quick messenger, etc. Many of these will work better and faster on a server/client set up than on a peer-to-peer.
You probably need to take a step back and think about what you want first. It is hard to go back and redo it after being peer-to-peer for awhile. It is a slight myth that a server/client setup is far more expensive than a P2P. (peer-to-peer). Let's say you are going to make a LAN for five workstations. Well, you basically have to purchase 5 client computers and 5 monitors with 5 OS whether it comes with the OS or not. You will most likely need either a DSL, cable or T1 modem. You will definitely need a firewall/router and you will probably need a switch. And, you will need to connect all this with cable. Again, my opinion only, but I highly recommend wired over wireless. And, I would definitely get Cat6 with a Cat6 switch. Now if you use one of those clients as a pseudo-server, then the purchase of a separate server will cost you an extra $2,000 for the server and an extra $350 for the software. You would need a good corporate edition antivirus program and a good corporate level backup software program. But, again, even with P2P, you have to purchase antivirus software and now you are installing it on each individual computer and hoping your users keep the updates up to date, which they won't. And, you have to remember what to back up if it is not all on your pseudo-server. With a server, you know that ALL of your data is on the server and that needs to be backed up nightly.
I can't find my other post, but I may be able to remember some of it. With a server setup, you have increased redundancy, increased speed, centralized data that can be shared to everyone, increased security, Active Directory which allows you to let your secretary have access to the billing but maybe not to the clinical data. You can make changes to all computers with one change on the server. And, you have a DOMAIN setup so that all users must log into the server giving you much increased security and logging. Your server emails you daily and weekly as to the status of your network and if there are errors which need to be looked at. I could go on and on.
Finally, if you do go server/client, and you have to choose an OS and you go with Microsoft, there are two basic OS to choose from: Windows Server 2003 (which is very good but usually used for a larger business environment) or Windows SBS 2003 R2. As people know on here who have read my posts, I can't emphasize enough the value of using SBS 2003 R2 whether premium or standard, although the premium version is not worth the extra money in my opinion. The name SBS (Small Business Server) should give away what Microsoft designed it for. It combines many things that a larger corporation would have to purchase. It's a brilliant piece of software. For instance, it comes with Exchange Server which is very costly but is included in the $350 SBS package. It has Sharepoint which is an incredible feature for a small business especially a medical one. It allows for roaming profiles which are super cool where anyone logging into any computer has the exact same desktop and programs as they have on "their own PC." It has My Documents redirection so that any document or file of importance is automatically stored on the server. Finally, SBS comes with Remote Web Workplace whereby you can connect to the server and hence to any other PC on the LAN from any computer in the world without a VPN or other software, and it is the most secure.
Well, I am rambling here. Whatever you do, will be fine. But, before you make any decisions, I encourage you to go to Microsoft's website on SBS 2003. It is very informative, and you can go through all of the features with its videos and mini trials.
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/sbs/default.mspxIt is only fair to tell you that you would most likely need help from an IT person to at least set up the Small Business Server. After that you can easily work with it yourself with minimal help from your IT guru.
