A great question!
This is a cutting edge issue to many schools today. The answer requires you
weigh several criteria.
1. life cycle cost including support cost
2. software compatability
3. hardware compatability
4. future development
1. NT will cost you less for software, and unless you have the internal staff
to support the network Operating system with Novell experience it will cost
you less to maintain. NT is simpler to install and service on a high level.
2. If you are planning to use either Macintosh or windows clients NT is as
easy as Novell, for DOS clients use Novell! If you have choice of clients
with an NT server us Win95, installation and security are optimal.
If you plan to use the Internet NT has much richer features than Novell.
3. A NT server needs more processing power than a Novell server, the GUI
takes resources. Plan your hardware cafefully.
4. Novell is in period of transition and their future though clear to them is
not as clear to the rest of the industry. Our advice to clients is to take a
real good look at NT today because we think in all but the very largeest
enterprise environment it is the better option today.
10 baseT vs. 100baseT is still another great question. If you have the $$
cable Cat5 for 100base, purchase 10/100 nics which will work in both and then
the question is do you install 100base repeaters or 10base switches. This
question is best answered by deciding if you are planning to use multmedia
materials over the net. If you are a clear channel 10 megabit network, ie:
switching is probably more effeicent than a CSMA/CD contension 100base
environment.
Good luck
-- Lee Zeltzer, Senior Consultant Innovative System Design 100 N. Stone Ave. Suite 605 Tucson AZ 85701 (520)791-3323 X 21 http://www.isdnet.com lzeltzer@isdnet.com