CompuServe Messages

This is a problem of the network software. There are, actually, two problems here. First is the raw performance of the "Server" software. This is the program running all the time waiting for requests and replying to those requests. The better the "Server" program the better the performance. The second problem is that when using a workstation as a server, this server software must run concurrently with whatever else is running on the foreground. DOS simply wasn't meant to do this. The whole process of "Terminate and Stay Resident" (TSR) is a kludge to say the least. For instance, if a file requests arrives in the middle of a DOS call, the request is queued 'till DOS is free again. This is because DOS cannot handle more than one call at a time. The problem is compounded when the foreground application is running in protected mode such as the case with 3D Studio or Windows. As the server software is a simple DOS TSR, the CPU must switch contexts (going from 386 protected mode to 8088 real mode) each time a request arrives. This context switch takes a heck of a long time (in terms of computer cycles). The simple solution to this is to dedicate a machine as a server. I think Lantastic has such option. You should be able to determine the gain in performance and compare that to the fact you've lost a rendering machine. Also make sure you've got lots of disk cache (8 to 16 megs depending on how much texture maps and such you're using – 4 Megs is enough for writing files only). Another, more elaborate (read "more expensive") solution is to use a heavy duty network software. Novell, Windows NT, or even a Unix box. In neither of those you should see much of a degraded performance for a 5 (or 6) workstation network.