Setting up network for 50 computers - cheapest solution?? Any advices?

[post]

Hi all,

New to this forum. Just wondering if there are any networking gurus out there who can give me some advice on setting up a network for about 50 computers. What would be the most cost effective solution for something like this?

I've got a couple of quotes from IT companies and the cost is quite substantial - around $20,000 including:
- Server hardware (4GB RAM, 750GB storage) + software
- Backup Tape drive (400GB/800GB) + software
- 50 user licences for Microsoft Windows Small Business Server.
(does not include cable installation + labour costs)

This seems quite expensive, are there any cheaper options? We are currently using a peer-to-peer network setup for 10 PCs that is connected to a switch and we just want to add another 40 PCs to do exactly the same thing - sharing internet connection and sharing files.
Is it possible to just connect the 50 PCs into a switch/hub? Is the server hardware + software and backup drive really necessary?

Any advice would be much appreciated. Thank you.

Post

[johnwill]

It is not absolutely necessary to have a file server for your network, that's pretty much up to you. For 50 machines, I'd be looking at a better router, probably the Cisco PIX line would be a good choice. I've seen workgroup networks larger than this, but sometimes a server offers some benefits in operation and backup.

How do you currently accomplish file backup? You do need to consider backing up any valuable data. What happens if you have a fire or other disaster, do you lose critical data that might put you out of business?

[post]

We currently just backup our files onto an external firewire drive every week or so. It's bit of hassle but I don't think the boss would want to spend $20,000 just to have a better backup system.

So you're saying a Windows XP workgroup network can handle over 50 users?? I didn't know that. My understanding was that it has trouble supporting anything over 10-15 users.

Thanks for your advice. Prior to this I was under the impression that a server was the only way to go in order to setup a network of 50 computers. Having another option available will save us a lot of money. Thanks heaps, I will start looking into this.

[johnwill]

You can't have more than 10 simultaneous connections to any given machine at one time if you're running XP-Pro, or 5 connections for XP-Home. If you want a server, you can also use Linux server configurations and save a bundle of money, since the server software is free. You could also use one or two NAS connected drives on the network for backups.