[log in to unmask],Net wrote at 17:56 on 01/12/98
about "Re(2): Re[2]: Home networks":
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>> Which again begs the question of why I need to spend large amounts of
>> money on electronic gadgets to control who in my surgery can dial
into
>> the NHS net, when Uncle Tom Cobbly and All are connected elsewhere.
>
>And pardon my ignorance, but with avuncular relative Cobbly as well as
>the rest of the NHS and their families,down and up-loading
pictures,speech
>etc.,and patients in waiting rooms etc etc, isn't bandwidth going to be
>a problem?(esp between 9 and 12 a.m.)
>I stand ready to be shot down with howls of derisory laughter,
Marry but thine nuncle is not likely to be permitted to upload to
GPNet, whereas he may to his own ISP.
Bandwidth is a central issue, I think it is desirable that we are
continually informed in detail of the bandwidth made available by
NHS TB, but it would only be a problem if well-known rules of
running networks were ignored until a crunch occurred. So, assuming
that the serial cockups of Racal Healthnet and GP links have been
observed from on high and the lessons registered - and I personally
know that at a high _technically literate_ level they have been, but
have no details of the Mozart fanciers who still think a mouse is a
furry mammal, any problems are unnecessary.
I think if it is made clear to the mandarins of NHSE and DoH that
any problems of bandwidth on the NHS Net backbone that occur inthe
next couple of years will be universally known to have been
_unnecessary and foreseeable_ then the innate protective instincts
of the civil servant will work in favour of keeping ahead of the
traffic. That it coincides with the nations interests and ours is a
bonus.
Within your practice, I think it would take a very enthusiastic
browser to saturate your 64/128k downlink, but you can tackle it
thus:-
- only put an old 386 in the waiting room, with the pictures on
the web browser (Opera for choice, but to r e a l l y slow it
down you could use IE3/4) turned off.
- use a software caching/proxy-server like NearSite on your
network. Costs £35 or so and will speed up your stuff as well.
- speech? try http://www.swis.net/health/mir/midgley/ultimate.wav
can you block .wav fiels from download at the firewall? I am
interviewing Sonicwall tomorrow and will ask.
--- OffRoad 1.9r registered to Adrian Midgley
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