TAS Network Recommendations in More Detail

TAS Software recommends the use of a Dedicated File Server for all its Multi-User products. When using a "Dedicated File Server", there are 2 areas that a user must consider:

• The File Server - the machine that holds the shared data
• Network Operating System - used to control who has access to what files, and how those files are going to be updated.

A Network operating system (NOS) is software that:

(a) controls a network and its message (e.g. packet) traffic, and queues
(b) controls access by multiple users to network resources such as files
(c) provides for certain administrative functions, including security

The Local Area Network (LAN) Operating Systems we recommend are:

• Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 - Service Pack 4 or above (latest is 6)
• Microsoft Windows 2000 - Service Pack 2 or above (latest is 3)
• Novell Netware 4.0 or above
• Microsoft Windows 2003 Server Software (Tested only with Version 4)

There are many other types of Network Operating Systems. Avoid use of non-standard Networks that are not adequate or sufficient to support the data throughput, such as:

• Peer-to-Peer Networks (Workstation being used as a Server)
• Wireless Networks (for mobile computer users)
• Wide Area Networks (WAN, e.g. the Internet)
• Terminal Services (Remote Dial-In access)
• Anything that is very new to the industry
• A non-standard NOS e.g. All versions of Linux or Sun's Solaris

The latest versions of the software are tested on the following platforms. Microsoft has declared that Windows ’95, ’98 and ME are in a 'non-supported phase' effective from January 1st, 2005. TAS Books version 5 has not been tested or is not supported on Windows '95, ’98 & ME.

Operating Systems

Windows 2000 Professional with SP4

Windows XP (Home) with SP2

Windows XP (Professional) with SP2

So, What Do I Need To Do Now?

When you have purchased your hardware, you need to set up the network. There are a few things to consider when you are setting up a new network:

Network Card

A network card (also called network adapter) is a piece of computer hardware, or a peripheral device, plugged into a computer, designed to provide communication between computers on a network. There are numerous types of cards available, and with the exception of a Realtek 8029 (see Driver for Network Card below) card, any card is suitable. The most common card types are made by 3Com, Intel and Novell.

Cabling

Examples of cabling between computers are Ethernet (Twisted Pair, Coaxial, Fiber Optic)or Token Ring, which allow communication over a small group of computers in the same building (LAN), or large scale network communication through routable protocols.
When using Ethernet the computers are usually wired to a HUB or a Switch, which constitutes the physical transport mechanism. These need to be wired cafefully and precisely to achive maxium speed and throughput from TAS.

Client

This is software that allows the network card driver, to interact with the network. This software is normally supplied with the Operating System on the PC and in essence there is no configuration required here.

Driver for Network Card

This is software that allows the network card to interact with the station successfully. There is normally a driver for the network card supplied with the card. However, if you have been suffering odd network crashes on the network from one station, it would be advisable to download the latest driver for the network card from the Internet or contact the manufacturer of the card to see if there is a patch (software update).
Equipment drivers are constantly updated to support new types of Operating Systems, new hardware standards and new protocol formats. Realtek, a Network Card Manufacturer has a driver for the card numbered 8029. This driver is faulty, causing packets of information to be lost or misplaced during transmission over the Network to the Fileserver, therefore corrupting files on the server.

Protocol

A protocol is an agreed-upon format for transmitting data between two devices. The protocol determines:

• The type of error checking to be used
• Data compression method, if any
• How the sending device will indicate that it has finished sending a message
• How the receiving device will indicate that it has received a message

There are a variety of standard protocols from which programmers and system engineers can choose. Each has particular advantages and disadvantages; for example, some are simpler than others, some are more reliable, and some are faster.

Your computer or device must support the right protocol if your Software is to communicate with other computers. The protocol can be implemented either in hardware or in software.

Sending Data over a Network

On a network, there may only be one cable connecting machines together, but that cable is the equivalent to a motorway with pieces of information being transmitted constantly from one machine to another. This data, or pieces of information are broken into packets before being sent across the network. A packet is a single unit, or "package", of data that is sent across a network.

In addition to the actual data, packets also contain header information. The header of a packet contains both the originating and destination IP (Internet Protocol) address. This is the unique ID for destination machine. The header also contains coding to handle transmission errors and keep packets flowing. Header information can be compared to addressing an envelope. Like the header of a packet, an envelope contains the addresses of both the sender and the recipient, in order to keep track of who the envelope is from and who it is going to.

Header information is used by Routers to send packets of information across a network. Routers are computers that are dedicated to "reading" header information and determining which router to send the packet to next. Packets move from router to router until they reach their final destination, in much the same way that an envelope travels between postal substations before reaching the recipient.

The packets that make up data will not necessarily all follow the same route to the final destination. The route that a packet travels depends on many variables, including network traffic at that particular moment and the size of the packet being sent. The routers will assemble the packets back together again in the correct order at their destination.

Types of Protocols:

IPX/SPX

IPX (Internetwork Packet Exchange) is a networking protocol used by the Novell NetWare operating systems. SPX (Sequenced Packet Exchange) offers extended data integrity to ensure that data is received and de-coded successfully.

The network driver makes a "best effort" to physically deliver the packets, but does not guarantee delivery. The implementation of reliable delivery, sequenced protocols, data stream and other higher-level interconnection methods may be built upon the IPX packet protocol, as needed by specific applications.

The IPX protocol is intended to be used as a foundation upon which a variety of sophisticated applications may be built, including communication servers, PC-to-mainframe concentrators, or direct inter-workstations message systems.

NetBEUI

NetBEUI was developed by IBM for its LAN Manager product and has been adopted by Microsoft for its Windows NT, LAN Manager, and Windows for Workgroups products. Hewlett-Packard and DEC use it in comparable products. Of all the standard protocols supplied by Microsoft, this is the slowest!

TCP/IP

TCP/IP stands for Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol. The TCP part is all about ensuring that data is transmitted correctly between 2 computers. If any errors occur, these are detected & the data is re-transmitted. The IP part of TCP/IP is how these data packets are moved from one point to another.

Each computer on the network has a unique IP Address & the data packets are moved from the source to the destination through many different computers. This is controlled via the TCP/IP protocol, which is used on the Internet & also by computers that are part of a Local Area Network (LAN). The boom of the Internet has made TCP/IP almost universal.

Which Protocol to Use?

Due to the high-speeds in which packets are sent across the network, there are instances when these packets become corrupted. It is the protocol that determines what to do when this happens.

The combination of network cards, protocols and network operating system will determine how successfully your applications will function within your specific environment.

Other protocols including X.25, ATM, OSI and Frame relay can are used for WANs, and are not recommended.

Novell Netware:

Novell built on top of DEC and Xerox's XNS protocol, and are largely responsible for the use of IPX as a popular computer internetworking protocol as a result of their large marketshare of Network Operating System software (Novell NetWare) since the late 1980s. . It is also now possible to run Novell products without IPX, as they have supported both IPX and TCP/IP for a few versions now.
Using TAS with Netware, we have found both the TCP/IP and IPX/SPX protocols to be most reliable. There is no configuration required in order to get either of these protocols to function with TAS applications.

Windows NT/2000:

IPX based protocols are suitable for low volume traffic on your Windows NT/2000 network. However, TAS applications are not low volume traffic applications - in fact, the procedure of printing and posting batches of sales orders in TAS Books Accounting Plus/TAS Books 2/TAS Books 3 programs is one of the most active network operations you will ever come across! There are 18 files updated when you use this function: some files have existing records updated (Chart Of Accounts, Customers etc.) and some have additional records added (Transactions, VAT etc.), and this is just ONE station performing ONE operation. At least 12 records are updated and at least 8 new records are created.

As the IPX based protocol does not guarantee delivery of each packet on Windows NT/2000, when a packet has been damaged or is not received correctly, the TAS system will be unable to continue until the server can diagnose what to do next. It will appear that the system has hung, and the user will normally reset the system. Files may become corrupted, locked or the next time the user tries to log in, the system will hang on the splash screen.

Using TCP/IP with Windows NT/2000 the diagnosis of errors is instantaneous and the offending packet is re-sent - preventing the system from "hanging". Therefore we only recommend the use TCP/IP on Windows NT/2000.

In all TAS products, a record manager by the name of Btrieve version 6.15 is used. Btrieve 6.15 does not allow you to pre-define what protocol to use when communicating over a network and will therefore use the protocols in the order (alphabetical) that they appear in the PC's Network Settings properties. It is essential that you remove all protocols other than TCP/IP in order to successfully use your TAS application over the Windows NT/2000 network.

Network Neighbourhood Settings

Under Network Neighbourhood Properties remove ALL Protocols EXCEPT: TCP/IP. You should now have:

• Client for Microsoft Networks
• Your Network Adaptor
• TCP/IP
• File and Printer Sharing (if required)

To Check that TCP/IP Is Configured Correctly on your PC:

• Click on Start and select RUN
• Type Command and click OK
• Type WINIPCFG (98/ME) or IPCONFIG (2000/XP) on the command line and press Return
• If installed correctly, it should display an IP Address, a Subnet Mask and a Default Gateway
• If these are blank, reconfigure the TCP/IP settings manually on the PC and/or server

NOTE: Pinging another PC will ensure the Network is stable and that the other PC is actively connected to the Network:

• Go to Start and Run
• Type CMD or Command, depending
• Press ENTER
• Type Ping and the computer name
• Press ENTER (ensure there is a space between Ping the computer name)