Advice/Suggestions on additional computers

[CnoteChris]

A friend of mine recently asked for my advice in obtaining and setting up an additional computer for his work and another one for his home applications. He would like all of these systems to be networked to one another.

Since I'm fairly new to giving advice I'm confident about to others when dealing with computers and software, I need the reassurance’s of a board that's helped me out before that I'm headed in the right direction.

He's using a HP Pentium III 500, with 128 ram running Windows 98. It's networked to a laptop within the office and fax machine. His primary software is a small business app. designed for an average sized PC.

He'd like to add another computer to the office mix that would communicate with the laptop and desktop comps already set up and communicating with each other. Furthermore, he'd like a system at home that could access the office systems remotely.

Now then, he asked me how to go about it and what it might cost. I cautiously said that I thought he could get by with a relatively cheap machine, something like a Pentium III 450 with 96 ram. I said this because his current set-up is almost overpowered for what he needs to do. He has the one app set up and that's it. Add some network hardware (No clue on that) and he should be fine.

He could probably do the same set-up with higher ram and chip speed at home and not break the bank.

Am I right here? What am I missing? Do I suggest new or used? What resources is out there that have been tried and reliable on the net?

This would be a first-time set-up for someone else other than family and don't want to screw it up.

Personally, I'm comfortable with my own system and think I'm a step ahead of the average user. But since what he's suggestion is new to me, I don't want to take on something I can't do. On the other hand, I don't want to leave him in the wind and at the mercy of a salesperson that will sell him more than he needs.

As always, thanks in advance for any advice or suggestions you might have.

[falcon2]

Dang, this question is pretty much the same as how many HP should your car have.
Its depends on:
1 How fast do you want to go?
2 How much your towing?

Web servers of course need some umph if they are getting a significant load, but apache runs quite readily on a 486 with 32MB of RAM.

Of course more ram is always better and 96 sounds like a good minimum, but if your not reneding 3d graphics or compiling large programs, the only real reason to get a 1GHZ machine is just so it will boot and load faster.
If you only use one app, read the minimum requirements on the box, and get a machine thats at least that big. My guess, if its not an applications server/compiler/or game, its going to say something like pentium 133 with 32MB, Which you can practically buy it a gumball machine nowadays. I personally would recommend against buying a used machine on ebay and the like simply because they tend to be WAY over priced, and you can often get better new machines at you local bestbuy.

As internet networking, I would SERIOUSLY recommend against using default ICS in win98. If you dont know whats going on, you can expose your entire network, and if you don't think people will mess with you just for the ugly fun of it, you'd be dead wrong.
Check out Shields up! at https://grc.com/default.htm for more info.
Even back when I had a dynamic IP, I was using Network Ice firewall, and I got intrusion warnings ALL THE TIME.

[techchick68]

There's no need to go on the internet for such a small project, it's too costly. You must take into consideration having a decent firewall along with a 24/7 connection. From the sounds of it, unless your friend has access to DSL it can be done much cheaper with existing phone connections. It is how I used to connect to my client's network before we got Terminal Server.

I recommend a simple peer to peer network locally. Using TCP/IP this is very easy I have it set up in my home. All you need is a 4 port hub and network cards. All come cheap these days but try for a better brand, I am a 3Com person but to each their own.

A Pent 400 is okay for most apps. If he was running graphics programs or intense CAD programs then something higher is recommended. So a used computer just might be the thing for him.

For the money using a direct dial is the best route in my opinion and a Pent 400 is doable.

Consider $250-$300 each for used computer another $100-$200 for networking (hub and network cards) locally and as of tonight Egghead is selling PC Anywhere for $160.

Keep in mind PC Anywhere can be used over the 'net but for security reasons I recommend a direct dial plus during peak hours you don't have to deal with 'net bottlenecks.

[CnoteChris]

Good morning and thanks Tech and Falcon2!

So far two good suggestions that lead me to believe I'm heading in the right direction.

When he was at BestBuy a couple weeks back, he looked into getting the set-up himself. He's basically computer illiterate and can't ask the right questions. From what he relayed to me, the guy had him prepared to get every bell and whistle out there. He quoted about $2100.00 a machine.

I told my friend I thought the BestBuy guy was nuts. He can easily get by with less and have room to grow. That's why I dislike BestBuy- they sell people things that they know they don't need. So I'd need to know what exactly it is I'm looking for and at what price I should say forget it. I also need to know a store or chain that others have had a good experience with.

According to the above, he should be able to get by with a Pentium III 450 or up, with 96 ram at about $350-450 a machine. Great. That's what I was hoping and told him to expect.

What I'm clueless about is networking. What cards should I get? At what price should I start putting up the red flags?

-- To answer an earlier question, he accesses the net through a 56k dial-up. He really doesn't surf the net much from work and can't get a high-speed connection at home. So he's pretty stuck in that department.

Thanks for the E-Bay warning, I actually was looking around their site to gather some price info for him. I'll stop that pronto!

[falcon2]

Thanks for the E-Bay warning, I actually was looking around their site to gather some price info for him. I'll stop that pronto!

Ok, maybe I was a bit to harsh about this, its perfectly fine to look on ebay, a lot of the things fo sale there are acutally new items placed by retailers. Dont assume your going to get firesale prices on anything.
http://www.pricewatch.com is the best pricing agent I've found, but http://computers.cnet.com is also good.

As for the networking, 3Com is very popular, but expensive. My DLinks does the trick. I got the dlink 10/100 home network kit that came with 2pci network cards and a 4 port hub for $85. If you dont want to pull wire everywhere, they have setups that piggyback on phonelines, or are completely wireles, but are much more expensive. CNet hardware has reviews on several of these.

And PC Anywhere... its a great tool, but its a wicked security risk if your have your PCs exposed to the net via an always on conneciton. An NA I worked with was a real hacker, and liked to show just how insecure the company systems were by hacking into them and then bragging about it later. He got PCAnywhere banned from all the servers outside the firewall.