That’s especially true, say, if you’re a publishing house with many writers but few editors. The writers may not communicate much between themselves, so that the handful of editors are the only ones really taxing the system. And since they’re not running other people’s programs, even the editors won’t be that much of a burden.
The same principle might apply to an educational network in which one teacher is overseeing many students.
Is the Network Reliable in Other Ways?
Are the wires and connectors strong enough mechanically, for instance? How much does the network tolerate mistakes—how crashproof is it? And what about the software? Suppose two people at once are calling up a directory to find out what’s on a common disk. Will the director accurately list every file? Does the network perform well not only with the directory program but with other utility-style software in CP/M, MS-DOS, or whatever operating system you’re using?
How Easy Must the Network be to Use?
The WEB is easy but not for the untrained novice. Using the Kaypro version, you need to know at least the basic CP/M commands.
But once you do, you’re just about home free.
Take the PIP command, which, among other things, lets you transfer files from one disk to another on a machine by itself. To switch a file named TEST from drive A to drive B, you’d load a PIP program into your computers temporary memory. Then you might type B:=A:TEST.
Via The WEB, though, how do you try to reach someone else’s drive?
Well, you could issue a similar command. Only, instead of saying you[you] wanted to reach drive B, you might ask for drive H—which is how the other person’s drive might be electronically known around the office.