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Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!lll-tis!ames!ncar!oddjob!uwvax!rutgers!njin!princeton!siemens!drexel!jeff
From: jeff@drexel.UUCP (Jeff White)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc,comp.dcom.lans
Subject: Looking for rec. on PC lans that don't require dedicated server
Keywords: PC lans TOPS
Message-ID: <648@drexel.UUCP>
Date: 27 Jul 88 17:12:47 GMT
Organization: Drexel University, Phila., Pa.
Lines: 34


   One of the companies I do soem part time consulting for is thinking about
setting up some PC's for a secretary and her boss.  They would probably be
doing word processing and spreadsheets on it (semi-independently).  One thing
they would like to have would be SideKick or any similar pop-up program that
allowed them access to a calendar, rolodex, phone log, etc.  What they wanted
to know is whether it would be possible to set up the two machines so that
certain files remained identical across the two machines.  For example, if she
makes an appointment in the calendar, whenever he access it he should also
see it.
  My solution off the top of my head was TOPS.  One machine would act as the
server for the specified program/files (SideKick, in this case), and when
the other machine booted, it would first mount that volume, and then run it
from there (ie. she would boot first, export subdirectory with SideKick; he 
would boot after her, mount that subdirectory (making it appear local), and 
run it also).  I'm assuming that whatever changes he would make would show to
her as well (since both should be using the same data file, and assuming no
conflicts (both not updating at once).
  The question I have is will this work, both from the TOPS standpoint and
the application standpoint.  I've done some work with TOPS and I don't see
any problem.  I'm not sure how pop-up programs would handle this.
  I could also forsee them wanting to be able to print from both machines,
and I'd like to know if a network software solution would be better/cheaper
than running cables and putting in some type of switchbox to 1 printer.  File
transfer would probably also be desireable.  Cost must be kept to a minimum.
The TOPS solution could be obtained for about $250 per PC (AppleTalk/FlashTalk
board and TOPS software, which is probably about the maximum they'll want to
spend (unless a great solution appears).  I've seen ads for some other low
cost nets (EASYlan, EASYprint) which I'm not familiar with, and there are also
probably some I don't even know about, so I really could use any help you can
provide.  Thanks.

						Jeff White
						Drexel University - ECE Dept.
						rutgers!bpa!drexel!jeff