FM 556 running over PC <-> Linux (Samba) networking

[Jay Smith <jay@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

(Longish)

Hi,

I thought I would pass along a success story.  Maybe we are behind the
times, but...

This story does have an end ... and it is about FM.  Read on.

We run Win95 PC workstations with FM 556.

We just upgraded our Ethernet network 10BaseT "hub" to a 100BaseT
"switch".  The cabling was always Cat5, thus it was just a matter of
getting around to the change; back when 10/100 PC & printer ethernet
cards became available at reasonable prices, we started buying them as
we upgraded various workstations and printers.  

At the same time, we just replaced our UnixWare 2.1.2 server with Linux
(Redhat 6.0).  (I don't need to go through all that anytime soon.  I was
okay, just a huge amount of work at an otherwise already busy time.) 
The new server (both physically new and new operating system) is
equipped with an array of 18 gig hard disks with transmission speed of
80 mb per second, up from 10 mb on the old server.

We also switched from using NFS on the old server to using Samba on the
new server to make the server's physical and logical drives available to
the PCs on the network.

So....

  Network 8-10 times faster
  Server hard disks 7-8 times faster
  Server/network operating system cleaner/faster
  PC access to server's disks cleaner/faster

What does this have to do with FM?

Our publications are usually extremely image intensive -- the images are
always EPS format (which are piggy) and thus we typically have 500 kb to
1.5 mb of image PER PAGE.  In some books, many pages are 95% images. (We
are doing relatively high resolution printing and need the detail, thus
the size.).  

Up to this point in time, if we wanted to work on a book that had 500
images, and *IF* we needed to actually see the images while working in
FM, the whole package had to be copied to a PC; in some cases, we had to
add hard drives to accommodate (back in the days when a 4 gig hard drive
was cool -- and expensive).  This was a real pain and led to a lot of
wasted time and potential for corruption (either operator error or
hardware failure).  It was necessary because, otherwise, FM was just to
slow -- because of the images.

NOW... The total speed of the system is such that we are very seriously
considering working such books (images and all) over the network.  There
is no longer time for coffee breaks (nor even time for a decent yawn)
while a big file opens.  We have to wear seatbelts now to keep from
getting blown away. Whiplash is a serious problem.

This is how it is supposed to work!

So... If you have been "getting around to" switching over to a 100BaseT
network or "getting around to" buying those faster server hard drives,
give it some serious positive consideration.  I am very sure that within
less than ONE year we will make up the cost in increased productivity. 
Now that's cool.

Your mileage may differ.

Jay

-- 
Jay Smith

e-mail: Jay@JaySmith.com

Jay Smith & Associates
P.O. Box 650
Snow Camp, NC  27349  USA

Phone: Int+US+336-376-9991
Toll-Free Phone in US & Canada:
	1-800-447-8267
Fax: Int+US+336-376-6750

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