Home Forums Discussions General Discussion SERVER?

HELP!!
We are a small ministry non profit 501(c)(3) - Public Charity status 509(a)(2), providing care to the uninsured at medicare rates. We have been using AC for over a year. My wife is the physician (FP) and I am everythimg else.

She has always complained about the speed of AC. This has been helped since we upgraded to ver4, but she wants more speed.

I have AC set up on a desktop (P4-2gbram) and access the data base with 3 laptops.

Someone gave us a server "Dell Power Edge 6450" . I thought I could get Windows Server 2003 from Tech Soup for $62 but discovered Microsoft will not give it to a non-profit that does healthcare.

My Question: Will using this server increase speed?
Has anyone used a free Linux server with AC? if so did it, will it give my Doc more speed?

I am sure it could work, the main problem I see is that if you do not know Linux well you may run into some trouble implementing it or troubleshooting when problems occur. I don't know Linux as well as I would like and am working on that so I can run some VMWare Linux server stuff in the future. I wish you the best of luck and hope someone with more intimate knowledge can help you.

I disagree. If you have to ask, then you probably shouldn't run Linux with AC. It will be harder for you to get support if you run Linux. I think it would be easier to convince MS to go allow you to have SBS at the non-profit price, or 'work around' the healthcare issue with Tech Soup.

i agree w/ ben--you should definitely try out virtual machines first before trying to use ac over linux for real-it'd also be hard to find many people on this forum doing this, so you're likely to be on your own.

Are the laptops wireless? I have no complaint with AC as far as speed, until I try using over my wireless connection.

Yes John, the wireless.

I would postulate that your slow down isn't AC or the need for a server, but the "overhead" needed for a wireless connection. Even some faster 802.11n wireless routers will throttle down from 54-->11 or even slower if there are 802.11b clients connected, other routers in your building are using the same WiFi channel, or if distance or wireless phones in the vicinity increase interference.

Before deciding to go with a server, try hooking up the laptop using wired ethernet, and see if the speed is acceptable. If it is, look on the internet or your wireless router manufacturer's web site for tips on improving reception.

Hold on the server. AC4 has some issues with servers, it is harder to install and I had trouble with backup. I have to agree that the issue is probably wireless.

At home, I found wireless N made a huge difference. You might be able to upgrade to N standard for about $100 by shopping around, but first I would try that John above has recommended to see if that is even necessary.

John is completely correct.

As much as I love client/servers, I don't think the biggest advantage of going to a client/server is speed.

V4 improves speed tremendously. A server is not going to give you much more speed.

I would do what John suggests. Switch everything to wired. Make sure everything is GB, which may mean a lot. (GB switch, etc.). And, make sure you have 4GB of RAM on your client running the software. Also, it would help to insure you aren't using the machine running the program.

I also have no problems with speed using a wired network - I don't even think you usually need the gigabit - I use a plain 24 port 10/100 switch and a plain jane server to house the main program and data. Run the workstations with basic 1 gb machines with Windows XP home.

I would have to partially disagree. Certainly the workstations can use 1GB, but I would use more memory on the server machine. While GB connectivity probably doesn't speed up the connection, it will make large files import faster.

XP Home will definitely work fine for a peer to peer workgroup, if starting fresh, I would recommend Pro as it will give you much greater flexibility if you convert to a server/client domain setup where Home won't even connect.

If the bottleneck is due to using wireless, then I would assume it is due to bandwidth, which is faster on wired, therefore wouldn't 350Mbs be faster than 100Mbs?

My server has more memory and RAID drives - I actually use XP Home with 1 gb only because you can get new cheap workstations for $500.00. The only downside is that I have to log on to my server (with a user name and password) when I first turn on the machine - I know that with a domain you would need XP Pro. Gigabit would help - I am just not sure it is worth the investment if you already have a wired router. I am not sure of the cost but my 24 port router cost about $100 new. I have tried WIFI and it seems to be much slower at least in my experience. I also think wired is still better.

I agree with pretty much everything above. Man, my switch cost over $900 (but that was only because it was VoIP ready for hosted VoIP). Don't want to get into that VoIP vs VoIP talked about on here. I could be wrong anyway. But, it is a managed switch, though I have "managed" it about three times in two years, lol. For the most part, switches are probably the one part of the network that is set it and forget it.

I keep thinking wireless is going to catch up and surpass wired either by sheer technology or by the fact that no one really wants to rewire every time. I have no idea if I would want to rewire to 10GBS if it came out. Of course, fiber networks will probably be next.

My guess, without using tools like netcps, etc. transferring actual Mbs of files such as a 500MB file over a 100 vs 1000 MB cconnection would be much faster. But, I doubt accessing a file from a database would be especially with SQL.

I switched to gigabit and was surprised at the increase of speed. The office is wired with 5e cable so there was no problem a 500 mB file transferred in about 30 seconds.

Wired is definately the best way to go, but it may not always be practical if you do not own the location (sometimes a problem with non profits) or cannot do it yourself or for low cost. It is often simple and I have wired both of my offices by myself.

Wireless N may work if there are reasons not to wire. Of course G networks CAN work fine and often do, but he is having a problem, thus all of the above makes more sense.

I agree I do not feel the server will make a big difference.

Thank you ALL for the help.

Instead of a server, I am going to try a 'dedicated' computer (P4 3.0gb with 4gb Ram) that will only run AC.

If that does not give her enough speed, I will change to a N router.

I will let you know how it works. You guys saved me the cost of a server. I am able to pick up the computer for @$200.


Thanks Again,
Brad

There are a couple of options, a "dedicated computer" would be good, but I would check your wireless settings, see what speed the laptops are connecting. It really sounds like it is a router issue.
If you decide to go with wireless N try Frys/outpost, they seem to have good prices on their house brand airlink and that has worked (as peripherals, actually I use a netgear router) You will get increased speed even if you do not upgrade the laptops, but better if you do.

Second, you might just try adding more memory to the current main computer.

Third, while a 3G machine will be somewhat faster, any dedicated machine would be better.
I also like pacificgeeks.com http://www.pacificgeek.com/product.asp?ID=94333&C=220&S=982
this machine is $129, but you would need more memory.

Another option would be to install a version of windows on the powerserver and use it as a regular machine peer to peer.

Thank you Wendell,

That is exactly the machine I am getting locally with the 4gb of Ram.