Cd burner on server 2

[kathanon]

Hi, my boss wants me to attach our external CD writer to the server and my instinct is to insist that it should remain on a local machine. She has asked me to get some opinions as we disagree on this.

It would mean domain users using the server. One thing I am not sure about is how the background services would run if someone was logged on with a Domain user account, as I am not happy about them being logged on with the administrator account. My other objection is about processing power etc, although I am not sure how much memory etc it would use.

Also it just seems like it isn't good practice in general, but I would welcome other's opinions on this

Thanks

Kathy

 

[GlenJohnson]

A server is a server. If you log on as a user, things aren't going to want to work correctly. Servers in my humble opinion are meant to be dedicated. I myself ran a server as a workstation, and it caused problems. Nothing major, but if something isn't broke, don't fix it. Get other opinions, but I say you are correct. Pick a good machine, give it a general user account without to many rites, hook the cd up to that and leave it as a stand alone cd burner for all to use. Good luck. Glen A. Johnson
Microsoft Certified Professional
glen@nellsgiftbox.com


"What really happens is trivial in comparison to what could occur."
Robert von Musil (1880-1942); Austrian author.

 

[brontosaurus]

Give your boss a friendly smack and tell her a good admin NEVER lets users log directly onto production servers, ESPECIALLY with and administrator account.

 

[kathanon]

Thank you Glen and Brontosaurus! I was sure it was NOT a good idea.

I am going to speak with her tomorrow and persuade her against the idea.

One other thing, if I install an internal CD burner on a workstation, is there any way to share the drive to allow others to use it from their workstations? The software would be Nero and InCD or something like that I suppose, but would that work over a network?

Thank again for all the help, I love this site

kathy

 

[brontosaurus]

Put it on some workstation that nobody uses, create a generic local account on that PC that everyone can know, and let folks VNC in to use the burner.
(See Glen, I got a VNC pitch in there.... )

 

[kathanon]

Yes, yes, yes! I will do that. We already run VNC, brilliant programme (or should that be program

Thanks

Kathy

 

[GlenJohnson]

My dns was acting up at work. Kathy, go to

http://www.tightvnc.com

and download it. It allows multiple users to vnc into the same pc. Bronto, thanks for the help. We do the same thing at work, one dedicated machine with multiple users using tightvnc. A bit brain dead today.

Glen A. Johnson
Microsoft Certified Professional
glen@nellsgiftbox.com


"What really happens is trivial in comparison to what could occur."
Robert von Musil (1880-1942); Austrian author.

 

[NickFerrar]

Another point I've found is CD burners lock up from time to time requiring a system reboot - we used to have one on a file and print server 3 or 4 years ago but after about the 5th time we needed to reboot this important production server just to be able to burn a CD we moved the burner to a desktop and have followed that policy ever since.

 

[kathanon]

Thanks for the help everyone, I have now installed the CD burner on a spare machine and will show people how to use VNC to access the desktop

Kathy

 

[GlenJohnson]

Make sure you have VNC, (Tightvnc is what I prefer) installed as a service so you can re-boot it remotely and have vnc start up again on it's own. Glad to hear things are working out. (Tip, make the pc name and vnc password CD or something simple so people aren't calling you because they forgot.) Glen A. Johnson
Microsoft Certified Professional
glen@nellsgiftbox.com


"What really happens is trivial in comparison to what could occur."
Robert von Musil (1880-1942); Austrian author.

 

[jrogersnd]

Kathanon,

My recommendation would be to purchase a CD-RW for users that need/use them the most. They're dirt cheap now, but if you don't have any money at all then I guess this isn't an option.

Pricewatch.com lists a lite-on 24x12x40 CD-burner at $37.99 US with a copy of Nero 5.5.8.2. I'm sure you could get a bulk discount as well.

Just my 2 cents.

--James

 

[GlenJohnson]

Alright, it's time for me to confess. I don't know squat about cd burners but I need to get one. Is the lite-on that jrogersnd mentions any good? What exactly do the numbers stand for? I'm sure it's speed, but what means what. Thanks.

Glen A. Johnson
Microsoft Certified Professional
glen@nellsgiftbox.com


"What really happens is trivial in comparison to what could occur."
Robert von Musil (1880-1942); Austrian author.

 

[kathanon]

Glen

I installed a Lite-on in my pc at home, and a friend's pc. They seem very good and include the software, as James mentions. They are now selling 48x at least, maybe more, the numbers refer to the speed of the drive.

Kathy

 

[LedZepRock]

Glen

24x16x40 drive would be

24 is the speed the drive will write Once Only CD's

16 is the speed the drive will write Re-Writable CD's

40 is the speed the drive will read CD's

Ta Simon

 

[GlenJohnson]

Thanks gang for educating an old fool. I've found a 40x16x48 for $40 at pricewatch. Might buy 2.

Glen A. Johnson
Microsoft Certified Professional
glen@nellsgiftbox.com


"What really happens is trivial in comparison to what could occur."
Robert von Musil (1880-1942); Austrian author.