Networking with Jewelry Shopkeeper.

COMPULINK 3300 Overland Avenue, Suite 201 § Los Angeles, California 90034 § 310 × 204 × 5121

Networking with The Jewelry Shopkeeper

After using the Jewelry Shopkeeper for some time, most stores find it advantageous to upgrade their computer hardware and software to a Local Area Network (LAN) system. This means that more than one person can use the Jewelry Shopkeeper’s programs and data at the same time. Each individual store’s needs vary, but a common initial network scenario is to have one computer set up for point-of-sale in the store, and another in an office (in the same building) for inventory processing and management and accounting functions. Alternatively, a store may require two people to be entering sales and repairs at point-of-sale computers, another person to be receiving inventory and printing tags, and simultaneously have yet another person printing sales and inventory reports. With the purchase of the Network Update, the Jewelry Shopkeeper has this capability.

Point-of-sale workstations are actual computers, not dumb terminals or just keyboards and screens.

Jewelry Shopkeeper Network: The network Update to the Jewelry Shopkeeper can be purchased at any time. The Network Update will convert all files from the Single-User version to the Network Version, but using the network program is exactly the same as using the Single-User version so there is no re-learning. The price of the 1-5 user Network Update version is $600.00. To upgrade from a 1-5 version to a 10-user LAN update, the price is $300.00. (Prices valid through November 1996.)

Note: If your copy of the Jewelry Shopkeeper is not current, you may have to order a version update in addition to a network update.

In addition to the Jewelry Shopkeeper Network Update, you will be required to purchase LAN software and hardware. LAN software is an operating system like DOS, but which coordinates the connections of two or more computers. When two people want to access the same data or want to print at the same time, the operating system’s job is to make sure there is no conflict. Although there are several network operating systems on the market, only Novell’s Netware is recommended. If you cannot get a Netware network at this time, you can use Windows 95 as your network operating system until you get Netware. Note that if you use Netware as your networking operating system, you can still use Windows 95 as the regular operating system at the workstations.

Technical Considerations:

The local-area-network (LAN) version of the Jewelry Shopkeeper allows you run the program from several computers simultaneously all using the same data: the same customer list, the same inventory file, same sales files etc.. There are some operations which allow only one user to be running the system. For example, when running the daily cash-out report, no-one else can have the sales files open.

Provided that your network (LAN) is properly configured and fully operational, the Jewelry Shopkeeper Network Update can be installed on your LAN by simply purchasing the LAN update and typing A:UPDATE with the update disk in the A: drive. Note, however, that installing and configuring a LAN can be tricky and generally requires the services of a consultant experienced with such installations.

A properly configured network is comprised of two or more computers each with an ethernet network adapter connected with ethernet thinwire or 10-base-T cabling. One of the computers is designated as the Fileserver — this is the computer where all the programs and data are stored. The other computers are called Workstations. Network operating system software must be configured and installed on the fileserver and the workstations. Compulink does not provide or sell network operating system software nor can Compulink offer technical assistance for them. The network operating systems that will work with the Jewelry Shopkeeper are: Novell Netware 3.12 (or later) or Novell Netware 4.1 (or later). If you already have it installed, LANtastic 6 (or later) can work.

If you use Windows 95 or LANtastic, you have the option of using the Fileserver itself to perform file sharing tasks and run the Jewelry Shopkeeper software. If you do use the Fileserver to run software such as the Jewelry Shopkeeper, it is called a Non-Dedicated Fileserver. The best network speed and reliability is obtained if you do not use the Fileserver to run any software — i.e you designate a Dedicated Fileserver.

In any situation, you should seriously consider designating a Dedicated Fileserver as described above. The advantages of a Dedicated Fileserver are 1) that the network speed is considerably higher because the Fileserver only has to manage the tasks of sharing data, instead of sharing data and running the Jewelry Shopkeeper as well; 2) the network is more reliable because if a program ‘Freezes’ when run on the fileserver, the whole network and all other users will crash. If a program freezes on a workstations, only that computer crashes — all the others can continue to work. The disadvantage of a having dedicated fileserver is that the network costs more because you cannot use the fileserver to run the program, so you have to buy an additional computer on which to run the program.

1. The highest level of speed and reliability is obtained by using the Novell Netware 3.12 or 4.1 network operating system which require a dedicated fileserver. However, the dedicated fileserver does not have to be a particularly expensive computer. Even a 486SX-33 with a local-bus hard drive controller 8 to 16MB or RAM and a monochrome monitor is sufficient. A CD ROM drive simplifies installation of Netware. Approximate Netware mail-order prices are $595-650, but do not include help with installation, cabling nor network adapters. Some computer suppliers, such as Dell, will sell a fileserver computer pre-loaded with Netware which could simplify installation.

2. LANtastic 6 is popular because its price is lower than Netware’s, and has acceptable speed, though not as good as Netware’s. LANtastic will support either a Dedicated or Non Dedicated Fileserver. The ALONE command is used to make a fileserver dedicated, and significantly increases the network speed. We highly recommend Netware over LANtastic. We do NOT recommend Novell Personal Netware nor Netware Lite nor Windows for Workgroups nor Windows NT as the network operating systems at this time.

Novell Netware Notes: (see Netware documentation for details)

Use Netware’s PCONSOLE and SYSCON programs to configure printer queues.

Use Netware’s CAPTURE program to redirect printer output to a network printer queue. Sometimes it’s best to include the /NO AUTOENDCAP (NA) option on the CAPTURE command-line, other times it’s best to include the /AUTOENDCAP (AU) option — try each.

For Netware 3 or 4 you may need to use the PSERVER NLM at the server and RPRINTER.EXE at the workstations. Alternatively, a third-party print manager such as Printer Assist may simplify print configuration. Printer Assist also lets you print from network queues without using PSERVER at the fileserver.

If you have workstations running Windows 95 attached to a Novell Netware fileserver, it is advisable to install Novell’s Client software for Windows 95 as opposed to using Microsoft’s client software for Netware. You can get the client from the Internet or a dealer.

Windows 95:

To use the built-in network features of Win 95, all computers on the network have to be running Win 95, so therefore all computers have to be powerful enough to run Win 95. If you combine Win 95 with LANtastic 7, you can connect less powerful DOS computers to your network. If using Windows 95 make the main computer’s hard drive sharable with full access — not just read-only access.

LANtastic Notes: (see LANtastic documentation for details)

Be sure to set the INTERNAL SHARE option OFF

Be sure to configure the FILES= parameter in the CONFIG.SYS file of the fileserver to at least 150, or the maximum number of workstations multiplied by 70 — whichever is greater. (Add 70 for the fileserver if it will be used in Non-Dedicated mode.)

The fileserver must run the SHARE program with the parameters /F:4096 /L:500 e.g. you must have the command: SHARE /F:4096 /L:500 either in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file of the fileserver or in the STARTNET.BAT file (in the \LANTASTI directory.)

Use LANtastic’s NET_MGR program to configure network printer queues.

If you use LANtastic’s cache program, be sure to set NO DELAYED_WRITES.

Use LANtastic’s NET USE command to redirect printer output to a network printer.

Don’t use Windows on a non-dedicated file server, since it might crash the server.

If you ever replace the hard drive on the file server and restore the old hard drive’s data to the new hard drive, you will still need to re-install LANtastic from the original installation disks. If you don’t, the network may function, but you may encounter unusual problems.

General Network Configuration Notes:

Because networks have to share data, is recommended that you install fast computers to offset the speed drop this sharing causes. Current model computers are Pentium’s, although 486’s are good and the older 386DX’s are also acceptable. Compulink does not recommend the purchase of 386SX’s (even for workstations) because the data-bus of these computers is only 16 bits wide instead of the 32-bit wide data-bus of the DX models. Existing 386SX’s will work well, but we do not recommend the purchase of any more of them. For optimum network performance, install a fileserver computer with a PCI bus and install PCI ethernet and PCI hard disk controller cards. PCI adapters maximize the speed of accessing data.

The fileserver should be equipped with sufficient RAM memory to run a disk cache-program — 8MB to 16MB should be adequate. Disk-cache programs reduce wear on the Fileserver’s hard disk drive and increase the speed with which data can be accessed. With Netware, disk-caching is automatic. With LANtastic, you have to configure the disk cache program yourself, but it is included in the program. A popular disk-cache program, Super PC-Kwik, has not proven to be compatible with the Jewelry Shopkeeper. Disk-cache programs are more reliable if they are configured to use Extended Memory, rather than Expanded Memory.

Disk-caching programs installed on Workstations do not speed up data access from the fileserver. For this reason Workstations do not generally need more than 1MB of RAM memory at this time. However, future Jewelry Shopkeeper versions may require 8MB of RAM.

The SHARE.EXE program should be copied from your DOS directory to the Jewelry Shopkeeper’s program directory \COMPLINK.JS

If you have Workstations which boot from a floppy disk drive, (and which don’t have a hard drive), The COMSPEC setting will default to A:\COMMAND.COM. You may want to change the COMSPEC setting so that the workstation looks for COMMAND.COM on the Fileserver’s hard disk drive. This helps speed up certain operations where COMMAND.COM has to be re-read, and it eliminates the need to re-insert the boot disk if you have to remove it in order to gain access to the floppy disk drive. Diskless workstations are not recommended.

Make sure all of your computers are properly grounded. You may even need to utilize a double-grounded power outlet. It is highly recommended that you use UPS’s (Uninterruptible Power Supplies) for each of your computers, especially the file server. UPS’s contain a battery so that if the electrical power surges, sags or cuts out completely, the battery will provide electricity to the computer until the power source returns to normal or until you shut down the computers safely. Without a UPS, surges, sags or blackouts can damage your data.

If you have several computers on your network, you may find that some computers need to have the Jewelry Shopkeeper configured slightly differently than others. For example, Some computers should have the colors set up differently. Or some computers should have the printing configured differently, because some should print reports to a laser printer attached to the file server, while others should print reports to a dot-matrix printer attached to those computers’ own printer ports. Normally, the Jewelry Shopkeeper stores the configuration centrally and all users use the same options. However, there is a way to make individual computers store their configuration on their own C: or A: drive. At the DOS prompt (or in the AUTOEXEC.BAT) type SET JSP=C:\ or SET JSP=A:\ and the line SET JSTEMP=C:\

Printing Notes:

When you have a network and you print something, the "print job" can take one of two routes to the printer. 1) The print job can be sent directly to the printer attached to the computer you are working on (this can be referred to as local printing or direct printing) 2) The network can intercept or capture the print job and put it in a network printer queue. The network subsequently sends the print job down to the printer, which could either be attached to the server or even attached to the computer which printed the job in the first place. Under some circumstances you may find that you print a large print job and you want to cancel it. If you are printing locally, you can generally just press Escape. If you are printing via a network printer queue, the whole print job may be in the printer queue and neither turning off the printer and the computer will remove the print job from the queue: it will continue printing when you turn them back on. In this case you will have to use network utility programs to remove the print job from the queue.

It is very important to learn how to remove print jobs from the network print queues — preferably before you have a problem! Ask your network installer for instructions.

RAM (Memory) Configuration:

When you start the Jewelry Shopkeeper program, the computer should have more than 490KB of available conventional RAM. Your computer may have more RAM than this installed, but it may be used up by other requirements, and would not all be ’Conventional’

Because the network operating system programs take up extra memory above DOS, you may want to install DOS 6 or 7 on your computers as they have options to increase the amount of memory available to run programs. In order to obtain enough free RAM memory, you may need to configure the computers to use Expanded Memory Managers to load high some of the network operating system programs. If you have a non-dedicated fileserver, it will take careful configuration to optimize memory usage because the fileserver programs are fairly large. MS DOS 6 or 7 have a utility called MEMMAKER or RAMBOOST to help you optimize the use of your RAM. If you want MEMMAKER or RAMBOOST to optimize RAM configuration, include the LANtastic programs usually located in the STARTNET.BAT file in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file. To free up more memory than MEMMAKER is able, try QEMM, which is sold separately by software dealers.