win2k as file server-max users?

[kyarky]

We have been using a computer with win2k professional on it as our file server for a while now. The spring we've grown to 12 employees/computers and are starting to have people unable to connect to the server. 'Max number of users, the server is not allowing any more connections.' I remember hearing that win2k pro has a max number of connections at 10, which seems to be what we're experiencing.

Is there a workaround? A way to increase the number of connections allowed? I would rather not have to mess with win2k server and all the security patches updates that seem to be involved with it.

Thanks!

 

[Nothinman]

Win2k pro has all the same security problems as Win2K server. The only thing it might get you is the fact that you can't install things like Mac File Sharing so you don't need to worry about security problems there, but it's not like you'd install them anyway if you didn't need them, right?

The only way to legally get around the 10 user limit is to install server, and there's no inplace upgrade either so you have to do a fresh install.

 

[vash]

Nothinman is right, no way to get around the 10 user's connecting problem with Win2k Pro. You'll need Win2k server or another OS to share the files. NAS is good, Linux works quite well, many solutions for ya.

vash

 

[FoolishMcNasty]

I agree with vash, look into a NAS. The Quantum Snap Server series makes a nice and easy solution to your problem...they are fairly cheap too.

 

[kyarky]

Thank you. I read through the other posts available regarding win2k server. Not many were complementary, especially regarding patches and fixes. Can Linux provide file and internet sharing for a host of Wintel machines?

 

[owensdj]

kyarky, I don't know what you think you're going to use as your server. Windows 2000 Server does have security patches available, but so do other operating systems including Linux. In fact, I'd say there are more security holes found and patched on Linux than on Win2K. Yes Linux can provide file sharing for Windows machines using what's called Samba.

You just need someone to setup your Windows 2000 Server who knows what he/she is doing(same applies to Linux). It's no more insecure than Linux, IMO. If you want to go the Linux+Samba route, you probably can, depending whether or not your server's hardware is supported on Linux. It probably is.

 

[Abzstrak]

plain and simple U need to buy the proper OS and reinstall stuff... U should also strangle the idiot who used win2k pro in the first place...

If your not familiar with samba and linux, you'll probably get pretty frustrated... suck it up and buy win2k server.... do it right this time.

 

[Budman]

Just search for a little program called " NTSWITCH".

What is NTSwitch?

NTSwitch is a small freeware program that allows you to turn an existing NT Workstation or Windows 2000 Professional installation into an NT Server or a Windows 2000 Server environment.

How does it work?

It's well-known that Workstation and Server environments are virtually identical. The operating system decides which "flavor" to run in based on two registry values:

HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\ProductOptions - ProductType [REG_SZ]
HKLM\SYSTEM\Setup - SystemPrefix [REG_BINARY 8 bytes]

If you have problems finding it I can email it to you.🙂

 

[Nothinman]

NTSWITCH is also illegal, hopefully a mod will see this and delete your post.

 

[Buddha Bart]

risky thing about samba is that sometimes out of nowhere a hotfix or service pack "breaks" compatibility with it.

Some kind of NAS appliance is definatly gonna make your life easiest.

bart

 

[Nothinman]

risky thing about samba is that sometimes out of nowhere a hotfix or service pack "breaks" compatibility with it.

Some kind of NAS appliance is definatly gonna make your life easiest.

Those NAS appliances will most likely have the same problems, a lot of them use Samba and those that don't more than likely aren't running Windows. Which is why you test things before implementing them, it makes life go a whole lot smoother.