local windows vs shared windows discussion i would like to see a serious discussion on the best way to install windows from a novell administrator s point of view i just got off the phone with ms access support and was told that they microsoft has decided to implement as a standard for software support the local setup described below as the most advantageous installation if this is true and microsoft deems this to be the most prudent installation then i will comply but i d like to hear it from administrators first the local windows installation windows is fully installed on each workstation hard drive assuming the resources are available from a network administrator s implementation he she would install all windows disks on a network drive using setup a then install windows on a per machine bases by running setup off the network to install the complete system on the local drives in this way all drivers are available to the setup procedure w o the need to change disks advantages reduce traffic running windows locally reduces network traffic due to the local access of main windows files network independence if the network fails and they all do at one point or another the local installation would allow users to keep producing and reduce the cost of down time faster windows theoretically windows will run faster from a local hard drive than over a network this may be a hard point to prove if the network has an optical backbone and or the network drives are significantly faster access than local ones a user traveling from machine to machine does not need to worry about varying setups monochrome color types of mouse etc since the windows installation is assigned to the workstation disadvantages cost installing windows locally requires a significant amount of disk space workstations now must be purchased with a hard disk that can increase the cost of the workstation from to percent administration local windows installations are very difficult to administer new drivers for peripherals are constantly being made available each of which would have to be individually installed on each workstation security users now have access to erase or corrupt their own system files from simple ignorance this could result in quite a headache for administrators who may have to constantly repair damaged installations backup we all know the problems backing up local hard disks the backup sets if done via a centralized tape system get very large very quickly backup individually to floppy may not happen at all this may be eliminated if it is assumed that local hard disks only contain replaceable applications and not user data the shared windows installation windows is fully installed to a network disk via the setup a procedure described above users or administrators then install a minimal set of files to individual user directories these directories may be on a local hard disk or perhaps a network home directory the bulk of the windows system files are maintained on the network in a single directory some files and are accessed shared as needed by users throughout their windows session the user s files consist of a small set of files that the user has updated during his her windows session these include group files ini files and other regularly updated files advantages a single location for all files makes updates to drives easy as an updated driver becomes available it only needs to be installed in this single directory for all users to be able to take advantage of it assuming that the users files are maintained in network home directories the administrator can easily edit any ini file as needed to correct problems that may arise this includes win ini and system ini backup of all pertinent files is done easily even if the users files are on a local hard disk the bulk of the windows system is backed up with all driver updates disadvantages network traffic since all windows files are being shared in a network directory traffic on the network can become a problem an effect the speed of windows if the network crashes all production comes to a stop since window s is reliant upon the network for its files loss of data usually occurs as well since users working in windows at the time of the crash will usually not be able to save their work although minimal disk space is still a consideration if the users files are maintained on the network a large number of users can cause a significant utilization of disk space due to their personal windows files alone users cannot easily move from machine to machine unless the workstation hardware are similar this is due to the windows installation being tied to a particular username in the case of network user files the discussion i would like to know from other administrators with a large windows userbase how they prefer setting up windows personally i have setup numerous installations using the shared setup all windows and application files are on the network with little or no utilization of local hard disks in fact i sold a network on the fact that the company would no longer need to purchase hard disks for their workstations and thus save that much more money i would also like to see recommendations for applications should apps such as word and or excel be installed locally regardless of how windows is installed again i keep all files on the network for easy backup and administration but this is putting all eggs in one basket if the network crashes work comes to a halt now i am sure microsoft and i know your out there has their own ideas about this and their insights would be of great value but i hope to hear from people with actual working experience with users and network administration
