From his message to FHCNET-L@rootsweb.com, in response to queries about networking and loading all or part of FamilySearch on to hard drives.
There are several people on this list who have networked their systems.
Here are some key points:
- To have a hard drive larger than 2 Gig requires the running of Windows 95B or higher (i.e. Windows 98). (They started using something called FAT32.)
- To use a hard drive larger than 8 Gig may require a motherboard (BIOS) made in the last 18 months.
- Hard Drives are very inexpensive - Western Digital 20 Gig
- $257 (ebccomputers.com)
- You can have 4 IDE devices connected to your motherboard. You can buy the Promise Ultra 66 DMA PCI bus mastering card ($48) that will allow you to connect 4 additional devices. You'll want to get an additional 80 pin cable ($12) if you connect a 3rd and 4th drive. This card takes advantage of the new Ultra 66 DMA technology that is built into the new large hard drives and transfers the data twice as fast as when it is connected to the motherboard.
- You can connect a CD-ROM and Zip drive to the motherboard and 6 drives (2 to motherboard and 4 to Promise card) which will give you 120 Gigs. Maxtor has a 27 Gig drive, but I haven't seen the street price yet, but expect it to drop in the next several months.
- You would have to make sure that your case would support the number of drives that you want to have (cases cost $30 to $130).
- Peer to Peer Networking requires software (Windows 95/98). The networking is built right into Windows 95/98/3.11 and does not require any additional purchases. One of the other subscribers has used MSClient on the DOS systems to access the main computers.
- Network hardware requirements - each workstation (computer) needs a network card ($15-$80) and a cable ($5) to connect it to the concentrator ($30) (Hub).
- It is possible to load all the CD's and have them available to all the other computers on the network. The CD's can be load, then be stored away so they will not be damaged. The speed increase is incredible. Time is no longer wasted swapping CD's.
- Policy - SLC does not provide the support to solve networking problems on networks that they do not set up. So you will need to have your own computer person that is able and willing to support the network.
- I subscribe to the digest version of this mailing list - so feel free to email the list or me personally with any detailed questions.
- There are family history centers here in Utah that have set up networks with Windows 98, Windows NT and Novell.
- A smaller step - if you can get a 6.4 gig drive or larger on a single computer is to load the Ancestral File on that computer. The speed is a great selling point to receive support to move further ahead.
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