I have a small business with a peer to peer network consisting of 8 PC's.

My file server is running Win XP Pro.  This setup has worked fine for two
years.

For some reason starting about 3 weeks ago (when I added my 8th PC) I am
having problems with running out of connections to my file server.  When I
check the active sessions on the server it never shows more than 2-3
sessions.  However when I check the shares, I see that IPC$ has 9-10 shares.
I am assuming this is my problem.

Every document I have read so far on Microsoft's web site indicates thath
the limit is per computer, not connection so why am I having this problem?

Two of the PC's are running a database application and each have typically
4-5 databases open.  Coincidentally when I added the final PC to the network
I also installed a new release of the database application.

I am trying to narrow down the cause of my problem.  Can someone confirm
that the IPC$ share is probably my problem?  If so, how do I track down
which application is the culprit?

Thanks!

Al

Al wrote:

Show quoteHide quote(snip)

You have misread the documents. The inbound concurrent connections
limitation is *not* for computers; it is for *connections* and each
computer can (and usually does) make more than one connection to your
pseudo-server. There is no "application" to narrow down. You need to
upgrade your XP Pro pseudo-server to a real server operating system.
Since you are running Windows programs on the pseudo-server, you will
need to use a Windows server operating system. With such a small
business, Small Business Server 2003 should suit you just fine and it
is less money than Standard Server.

http://support.microsoft.com/?id=314882 - Inbound connections limit in
XP

concurrent connections:

5 for XP Home
10 for XP Pro/Tablet/MCE
49 for SBS 2000
74 for SBS 2003
Unlimited for full Server O/Ses

Malke

Ok,  I accept that because it is the conclusion I was gradually coming to
myself.

Can you answer another question for me?

What's the difference between Windows Server 2003 and Windows Small Business
Server?

Thanks!

Al

http://www.microsoft.com/servers/default.mspx

All Windows Server operating systems (including specs and features) are
available from this page.

Show quoteHide quote

Thanks for the link, but it doesn't tell me much.  It just lists the
features and does not do and actual comparison between Windows Serevr 2003
and small business server 2003.

Is Small Business server a subset of Server 2003?  Microsofts web site
mentions email support in SBS.  Does that mean Exchange server is included?
Do I have to buy separate CAL's for Exchange and Server?

Al

Al wrote:

You can make the comparison yourself. Here is the feature set for SBS:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/sbs/r2/default.mspx
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/sbs/evaluation/features/default.mspx

Here are some of the features of the standard servers:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/evaluation/overview/family.mspx
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/evaluation/features/comparefeatures.mspx

And here is the home page for all the servers:
http://www.microsoft.com/servers/default.mspx

Spending a little time on these sites will make it clear that for a
small business like yours, SBS would be the better fit.

Malke

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