Networking: A Beginner’s Guide Fifth Edition- P44 ppt

197 Chapter 14 Purchasing and Managing Client Computers 198 Networking: A Beginner’s Guide D esktop computers are really where the “rubber meets the road” when it comes to networks. These machines are the users’ primary interface to the network and the resource on which users most rely to get their jobs done. In fact, the network is designed to support the desktop computers’ work, rather than the other way around. Maintaining desktop computers is also the task on which you often spend the most time in managing a network, so their purchase, implementation, and management are important. You can have the best network in the world, but if your desktop computers aren’t up to the task, the network’s users won’t be productive. This chapter focuses on the management of desktop computers. Chances are that if you’re reading this book, you already know about the bits and bytes that make up desktop computers and desktop operating systems. You’re probably already a wizard with Windows or the Macintosh, and you’re comfortable installing new computer hardware and repairing problems on desktop computers. If you don’t know about these things yet, you can find many good books that cover the technologies in desktop computers in detail. In this chapter, the major concern is how desktop computers integrate with the network and how you can get the most out of them when you’re managing or setting up a network. Choosing Desktop Computers Choosing desktop computers involves many considerations. Making good choices here will pay big dividends over time. When purchasing new desktop computers, you have the opportunity to select machines to reduce your support burden, improve end-user productivity, and—overall—conserve your company’s cash. The following sections explore the different factors that go into selecting desktop computers. Desktop Platforms You need to know which desktop computer platform you will use. Generally, companies tend to gravitate toward either PC- or Macintosh-based desktop computers. (These days, it is increasingly rare to find companies that depend much on Macintoshes as a staple of their desktop computer diet.) In a few rare cases, companies might alternatively gravitate toward Linux- or UNIX-based desktop computers, but you’ll usually choose between PCs and Macintoshes. Advantages and disadvantages exist for each platform. Regardless of the specific pros and cons, you’re much better off if you can keep the company standardized on a single desktop computer platform. Companies that have purchased their desktop computers in accordance with individual user preferences (users are free to choose a PC, a Macintosh, or something else) end up with real support headaches, which arise 199 Chapter 14: Purchasing and Managing Client Computers from many different sources. Supporting two desktop platforms is more than twice as difficult as supporting one platform. Why? Consider the following: N You need to maintain expertise in two platforms, as well as expertise in their applications and platform-specific peculiarities. In a small company, you need more people to keep the requisite levels of expertise on both platforms than you would need if you had to support only one platform. N You need to stock more spare parts and expansion hardware. Generally, components that work in a PC won’t work in a Macintosh, and vice versa. N You need to license and inventory more software titles (on average, twice as many). N Problems that would never occur with one platform or another occur when you must support both, even in the network itself. Supporting two platforms is more complex than supporting one, so the servers must run additional software, must allow for the different ways that each platform works, and so forth. All this increases the complexity of the network, and increased complexity means less reliability for everyone. N Interplatform incompatibilities cause problems for users who must work together. Even if they use the same application (such as Microsoft Word) on both PCs and Macintoshes, platform differences still exist. For example, Adobe fonts with the same name may look and paginate differently on Macs and PCs. Users might painstakingly format a document in Word, Excel, InDesign, or another application available on both platforms, only to find that the other platform doesn’t present their work in exactly the same way. When users who frequently interact with one another have their files formatted for a variety of platforms, the incompatibilities become a real problem. N In some cases, you might be unable to find software titles with matching versions available for both platforms. This usually means users who are using a particular application won’t be able to interact with users who are using the other platform’s functionally equivalent application. For example, Microsoft Access is available only for Windows. N You will be limited in the programs you can develop for widespread use. For example, try developing a Microsoft Access-based application and then having Macintosh users use it. They can’t, because Microsoft Access doesn’t exist on the Macintosh, and there’s no way to use the same database application on both platforms in such cases. You can probably exchange data, but not the program written in Access. The same situation exists for virtually all programming languages: They are almost universally platform-specific, despite the efforts of their makers to make them platform-neutral. Examples of this kind of problem are much more common than not. (One exception to this rule is a more advanced SQL-based application that makes use of something like an Oracle database server.) 200 Networking: A Beginner’s Guide These examples should convince you that you’re better off running the wrong desktop platform than running two desktop platforms. If you’re in a company where two desktop platforms are in use, you should work toward implementing a standard platform. This process is difficult and time-consuming, but is important both for increasing overall company productivity and keeping IT costs at a reasonable level. NOTE If you move into PC management, you will probably be called on to perform cost analyses to determine which platform to choose or to justify why you chose the one you did. These exercises include costs of new hardware and software, dealing with legacy applications or systems to which the platform must connect, and maintaining and supporting the platform, as well as predicting the viability of the platform in one, two, five, and ten years. Remember that the chief technical officer (CTO) or chief information officer (CIO) usually reports to the chief financial officer (CFO), since IT has historically been considered a cost center rather than a profit center. After deciding whether or not to standardize on a single platform, your next decision is which one to choose. Most often, a company has a history with a particular platform, so sticking with that platform is usually the easiest solution, unless a good reason exists for a change. If you’re lucky enough to be setting up a company network for the first time, then you get to help choose a platform. This choice should always be driven by what the users need to accomplish, which applications they need to run, and the platform that best supports those applications. You need to consider the full range of applications that the company is likely to need, but the users’ needs should be the primary driver. For most companies, this means you’ll strongly lean toward PCs as the standard. However, for some companies, Macs are still a good idea. Generally, Macs make sense in companies that have a strong artistic or graphic bent to their makeup, such as a web design firm, a graphic design house, and so forth. NOTE As you have probably already noticed, many people want to make a platform decision based on the platform they like the best. Many people happily call themselves “PC fanatics” or “Mac fanatics.” For some of these people, the issue rises almost to the same level of importance to them as a religion. Such fervent brand loyalty should never influence you in making a smart business decision. However, the presence of such strong opinions also means that you must tread carefully when discussing platform issues with the system’s users! If no need exists that strongly suggests a particular platform, then, for many reasons, you should lean toward PCs. They are the most price competitive, are in the widest use, attract the largest assortment of software and hardware developers, and have much more infrastructure to support them. Also, for certain important business application software categories, good solutions are available on the PC platform but not on the Mac platform. 201 Chapter 14: Purchasing and Managing Client Computers NOTE This book aims to be platform-neutral, but the fact is that more than 90 percent of networked desktop computers are PCs. While this book is just as applicable to Macs as PCs, the remainder of this chapter assumes a PC environment. Reliability and Serviceability The most important features to look for in any desktop computer are its reliability and serviceability. Studies have shown that the actual price of a desktop computer is a small percentage of its lifetime cost, which includes software costs, training costs, and support costs. When assessing reliability, you need to look at the whole picture. Reliability comes from several sources: N The computer uses tested, high-quality components. N Those components are engineered to work well together. You can make a cake with the best ingredients available, but if your recipe isn’t good, you still get a bad cake. Computers are no different. Even the best components don’t always work well together. Top-tier manufacturers test all the components that go into their systems and ensure that they’re compatible with one another. N A reliable combination of software is used on the unit, and whenever possible, the software has been certified on the computer. Serviceability is closely related to reliability. Serviceability simply means that working on or repairing a particular computer is relatively fast and easy. Features that enhance serviceability include cases that are easy to open (requiring no tools), quickly replaceable internal components (such as hard disks, memory, or video cards that require simple or no tools), and Basic Input Output System (BIOS) that is easy to update. Serviceability is also strongly influenced by the services available from the computer’s maker: N Does the computer manufacturer stay current in offering updates to its computers? N Does its web site offer a lookup that lets you determine the configuration of a computer based on its serial or service ID numbers? N Is technical information about its systems readily available, or does the vendor tend to gloss over any discovered problems? N How quickly can you get replacement parts? N Does the manufacturer include on-site service for a period of time that reduces your support burden? N What is the warranty on any given computer? . companies, Macs are still a good idea. Generally, Macs make sense in companies that have a strong artistic or graphic bent to their makeup, such as a web design firm, a graphic design house, and. forth. NOTE As you have probably already noticed, many people want to make a platform decision based on the platform they like the best. Many people happily call themselves “PC fanatics” or “Mac fanatics.”. application on both platforms in such cases. You can probably exchange data, but not the program written in Access. The same situation exists for virtually all programming languages: They are