In the previous issue of Nokesville Biz, Paul Klimavicz wrote about the most important aspects of a file server - hardware redundancy. Unlike personal computers, servers use disk hardware to provide fault tolerance so that your data is protected from most hardware failures. This is only the beginning of what a file server can do.

In this article, I want to address file server software. Our company, Little Pines, Inc., specializes in Novell NetWare, which is a Network Operating System for file servers, like Windows is for a PC. NetWare can allow shared access to most files on a server - which means that two or more users may work on the same file at the same time. NetWare keeps track of changes in the file and executes the "saving" of the file in the proper order.

File servers with network operating systems on them also read files on the disk in such a way as to make file access much faster. If a PC and a file server were to read/load/open the same file, the file server would be able to "serve" it to the PC over 100 times faster than the PC itself. This alone raises your company's productivity immensely.

The server can network your printers and be a print queue for each of them, which dramatically speeds up printing. Files that are printed "on the PC" become print jobs on the server, and the PC is free to do other functions while the file server actually "prints" the file.

Another great function of a file server is the ability to run multiple applications at the same time. For example, one of our clients is a 30-user medical organization whose file server does the following functions:

Finally, file servers with the right operating system and configuration can give you internet security with firewall and proxy software, and access to your files or E-mail from anywhere in the world, either with client software installed on your computer/laptop or right over the internet through a browser (such as Netscape or Inter net Explorer). All you need is a computer and an internet connection.

Now, all of this functionality and data security can be expensive. The business owner needs to decide whether all this functionality and data security is affordable, particularly to a small business. However, one must ask: do I take the chance on losing data or spend the money for data security, increased office productivity, and access to information at anytime from anywhere?

Our company recently gave two quotes for file servers. One company wanted a small amount of disk storage space and functionality, while the other wanted a large amount of speed, disk space, and complete access to E-mail and all files. File servers can be tailored to the business requirements and budgets, so there is a size and amount of function for every business’ need.

Editor’s note: The author of this article is leaving the area and has suggested consulting with another firm for your file server needs.

Andrew Ortenzio

Little Pines, Inc.

10107 Baileysburg Lane

Nokesville, VA 20181

(703) 754-7629

cell (703) 909-3093

fax (703) 754-7818