Max connected users XPhome

[ProfessorT]

Im limited to 5 people who can view my shared files currently. I have a lot of movies and tv shows in a large house. My computer has turned into the "server" thanks for comments/suggestions.

 

[spherrod]

As far as I know there is no way of overriding this limit in XP Home - you could upgrade to XP Pro and this would increase the connection limit to 10 or consider building a dedicated server (needn't be expensive).

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314882

 

[ProfessorT]

thx spherrod, I guess Ill finally go Pro. Any word on what vista can do?

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: ProfessorT
thx spherrod, I guess Ill finally go Pro. Any word on what vista can do?

This web site says 5 for Vista Home, 10 for Vista Home Premium and Vista Business. I couldn't find a definitive statement on MS's site.

 

[spherrod]

Originally posted by: RebateMonger

Originally posted by: ProfessorT
thx spherrod, I guess Ill finally go Pro. Any word on what vista can do?

This web site says 5 for Vista Home, 10 for Vista Home Premium and Vista Business. I couldn't find a definitive statement on MS's site.

AFAIK that's correct - maybe Stash can confirm it for us?

 

[ProfessorT]

so I may be hitting the limit of 10 on pro, what does windows server 2003 do or media center do? I might have to try linux or something, my computer is turning into a huge NAS box.

 

[RebateMonger]

Originally posted by: ProfessorT
so I may be hitting the limit of 10 on pro, what does windows server 2003 do or media center do? I might have to try linux or something, my computer is turning into a huge NAS box.

Server 2003 allows unlimited connections. But remember that you'll need adequate User or Device licenses to meet Microsoft's EULA. If you only have five Users, then the out-of-the-box five licenses should be adequate for any number of connections. Note that Windows Server 2003, except for SBS 2003, doesn't actually ENFORCE the license limits.

MCE 2005 works the same as XP Professional. Ten simultaneous connections.

 

[ProfessorT]

thx Rebate Mongor Im thinking now if I ever see more than 10 connected users which is possible Ill install some form of apache.

 

[Slowlearner]

Having gone through this exercise at work and at home, I would recommend most Linux distributions, though I particularly like OpenSuSe and Ubuntu - easy to install, and will work on relatively old hardware and handle many connections. The only tricky part is configuring Samba so that windows pcs can connect easily, so look for sample samba conf files on the web and play around with them.