🚀 go-pugleaf

----------------------------Original message----------------------------
At 18:02 14/02/96 EST, you wrote:
>----------------------------Original message----------------------------
>I've been asked to look into the possibility of setting up a CD-ROM LAN
>for our Library. I'm not too familiar with the pros and cons of this. I
>would like some advice. We currently have stand-alone Windows/DOS CD-ROM
>stations.
>
>If you've set one of these up, could you tell me your experiences, both
>good and bad. What hardware/software would you recommend? Should I link
>this to my existing Novell 3.12 network, or go standalone? Is a CD-ROM
>LAN a good idea for remote-site access? Any information/advice you could
>give me would be greatly appreciated.
>
>Thanks.
> ___________________________________________
>/ Barbara Passoff     / Simmons College     /
>/ Coordinator of      / 300 The Fenway      /
>/ Microcomputer Labs  / Boston, MA 02115    /
>/___________________________________________/
>/ e-mail: bpassoff@vmsvax.simmons.edu       /
>/ phone: 617-521-2760 / fax: 617-521-3093   /
>/___________________________________________/
>

We use Optinet on a Novell 3.12 Network, with 40 CD-ROM's.  This requires a
separate machine running the Optinet server software.  We have been running
this for several years, and have got adequate performance from our 386 16meg
system.

Pros:
Has been quite stable.
Comes with a mechanism for gathering stats.
Can have multiple servers.

Cons:
requires the usual netware drivers on the client, plus mscdex, plus a couple
of Optinet-Specific drivers.  Getting enough free memory for some CD-ROM
apps can be a challenge.

We would like to be able to add more CD-ROM's to our system, but have filled
up all slots on the server with controller cards. Get a system with a lot of
free slots, they WILL fill up over time.

Adding other servers incurs the expense of The server itself, plus another
Optinet server license.

The Optinet Client is for DOS/Windows.  You can't access the CD-ROM's over a
telnet connection, or through Web Pages.  We are moving to a product called
ERL, which runs on a UNIX Box and provides this functionality.

CD-ROM's from different vendors vary greatly in their user-interface and
system requirements.  Try to stay with the same vendor.  We tend to favor
Silver-Platter.

-=Neal=-
*----------------------------------*------------------------------*
| Neal Baldwin                     |        Phone: 291-3267       |
| Manager, Computer Operations     |         Fax: 291-3023        |
| W.A.C. Bennett LIbrary           | Hardware:                    |
| Simon Fraser University          |  "Remember, it works better  |
| Burnaby B.C.                     |     if you plug it in."      |
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