Reginald said:
<So wouldn't the load scenario be a bit heavier than you described, especailly if it scales exponentially?>
No, network load does not scale exponentially. Network degradation occurs exponentially (at saturation). There is no easy equation for network scaling because it entirely depends on network topology and usage. In general, however, users do not max-out their connection except when using a file server (a situation that does not occur with Java).
One of the points that I have been trying to make, but for some reason keeps being ignored, is that JAVA componentization results in reduced network load.
<Taking into cosideration that usage in the proposed scenario is three times greater than you described, coupled with the fact that the traffic on this ethernet would be SIGNIFICANTLY increased by the use of the NC thin clients (which may not be able to cache but so much locally and do not store any data or binaries locally - therefore must move all of this back and forth along the ethernet pipes creating SIGNIFICANTLY more traffic than would normally be expected from traditional "fat" PCs), isn't it feasible, if not likely, that 10 users out of 150 would hit a file server at 10 Mbps each through the course of a business week (remember the network will be moving databases, spreadsheets, applications and the like to and from each and every user).>
Wow! That was one big sentance Reg!
First: NC thin clients REDUCE network traffic, or that is the theory. Remember, "Fat" clients are not optimized for moving data around - they load 12Mb programs and store 5Mb spreadsheets, etc.. NCs, and the software that runs on them are DESIGNED SPECIFICALLY TO OPTIMIZE THE EFFICIENCY OF MOVING CODE AND DATA AROUND IN A NETWORK. That means Java components for the code and client/server for the data. NO FILE SERVERS (or at most, limited variations of them). Beat! Beat! Beat! I will beat this into your heads eventually (not just you, Reg, this is a common misconception).
Second: Your scenerio is accurate for Net PCs and PCs. Not for NCs. NCs WILL NOT MOVE ENTIRE DATABASES OR SPREADSHEETS AROUND THE NETWORK -- they work in client/server fashion, moving only the components currently needed around the network. This means that the network traffic will be less sporadic (more even and continuous over time), but with fewer large peaks in network utilization. Lots of small packages vs. a few really big ones == lower probability of network saturation.
Third: For the last time, you are better off with ethernet than you are with a T1 -- even if you are sharing a file server. That is, unless you are on an old shabby network and everyone is hitting the file server simultaneously for big files -- in which case, the network goes "ka-boom".
-Dan
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