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From: amthor@umaxc.weeg.uiowa.edu (Geoffrey Amthor)
Newsgroups: comp.dcom.lans
Subject: BASIC LAN MANAGER 2.0 QUESTIONS
Message-ID: <291@ns-mx.uiowa.edu>
Date: 13 Dec 89 00:54:30 GMT
Sender: news@ns-mx.uiowa.edu
Organization: U of Iowa, Iowa City, IA
Lines: 22

Please don't flame for stupidity.  When you look in the dictionary under
LAN neophyte, you find my name.

Question: Suppose you have 2-3 PCs that you want to network.  Ideally,
you would have all your data, tape drive, etc., on one server.  Using
LAN Manager 2.0, can that server be non-dedicated -- i.e., can it count as
one of the 2-3 workstations?  Can you run DOS 4.01, OS/2 PM, and Windows
from all 2-3 workstations, all pulling their data and apps from the one
server hard drive?  Can each workstation run apps to the varying capabilities
of their monitors, or do you have to standardize video output for each app?
(One PC might have 1600x1280 hi-res mono; another might do VGA color; another
might do MDA text.)  Is processor performance for each PC just as important
as it would be in a stand-alone system?  (I.e., will an XT still crawl?)  Can
MS Windows in this LAN run on an XT?  Any disadvantage to running diskless
PCs on the network?  What kind of price are we talking for network hardware
and software for just 2-3 PCs?  Can you disengage a PC from, or engage to, a
LAN that's already up and running?  I'm thinking of a laptop PC, which you
might want to tie in to the LAN on occasion--Xircom, I believe, sells a
portable ethernet adapter.


Thanks in advance for your help and patience.