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 Editor's Note Creating Now The Magazine I Wish I Had Then |
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By Art wittmann
Workgroup computing is easy! Everything is scaled down, simple and low cost. You just plug all the pieces together and it all works--just like the guy at the local computer store said it would. And two positives never make a negative. Yeah, right. Everyone in the IT world is asked to do a lot with precious little resources, but in the workgroup, it's worse. A lot worse. Lab-testing technology is often a convenience that workgroup budgets just won't allow. Furthermore, workgroup IT staff must know something about everything. Blindly trusting vendors is not a good idea, and waiting until a technology is proven by others is often not reasonable.
The technology was immature and often didn't work. And when it did work in our simple staging tests, it often failed under a real user load. Early on, trial by fire and learn on the fly was fine, but when users began to depend on the systems I'd installed, the job became tougher--and my days became longer. Many a night I spent baby-sitting servers and sifting through backup tapes. Sound Familiar? Many of you are in similar situations. Just because you aren't in a group supporting thousands of users doesn't mean that the technology doesn't have to work, it isn't complex to implement or that you are any further behind the technology curve than those major corporations. In fact, many of you are the earliest of ear ly adopters. Our aim in creating the Workgroup Computing Quarterly is to cover those topics that apply specifically to smaller networked computing environments. We know that regardless of the number of nodes you deal with, you find the majority of articles in Network Computing relevant and useful. But we also know that Network Computing's enterprise focus has prevented us from covering some of the hardware and software intended specifically for the workgroup. Take, for example, our cover story on SOHO ISDN routers in this premier issue. After years of seeing bad press on ISDN, it's finally arrived. The initials no longer stand for "It Still Does Nothing." But what products are best and which features are most useful? Whether you need an economical way to access the Internet, or a way to get at another corporate site, Jeff Newman provides you with insight on the key features of these devices. Jeff's story is on page 6. On page 16, you'll find Mark Degner's review of workgroup microsegmented hubs . One of the toughest decisions you'll face for a bandwidth-hungry, budget-constrained workgroup is how to introduce more bandwidth into the network. Micro-segmented hubs can be just the ticket to maximizing the bang for your buck, and they can minimize network disruption. Mark was impressed with the speed and price of these boxes. And he found that they are by no means a commodity item. We hope you enjoy this first issue of Workgroup Computing Quarterly and find it useful. Our two other articles in this issue are a Workshop and a Buyer's Guide. The tape media workshop is a must-read for those evaluating backup needs (page 26). The Fast Ethernet NIC Buyer's Guide provides a detailed look at that market (page 32). These are the articles that I wish I had had when I was running my first network of two servers and 30 PCs. I know they'll be useful to you, too. Take a look and let me know what you think. You can drop me a line at awittmann@nwc.com. --Art Wittmann |
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How do I know? My first job was to manage a workgroup within a workgroup. I was "
the PC guy" for the Engineering Campus at the University of Wisconsin in Madison--back when mainframes and minis were still king, and networking was what you did at parties to further your career. For a few years I did it all--from modems to servers to backup systems to hubs to desktops.
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