How many XP PCs can be on a network?

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Mobius

Is there a limit to how many Windows XP Pro machines can be on a LAN?

We have a small office with one such machine that is hooked up to three
printers that we share with four other XP machines over a TCP/IP DHCP
network 'fed' from a ADSL modem-router and switch set-up.

Somebody mentioned that Windows XP allows only a limited number of computers
for file and printer sharing.

We are planning to add more Windows XP Pro machines to this network shortly.
All existing and planned PCs have and will have SP2 installed.

We shall certainly appreciate further information on this.

Regards and TIA.

Mobius
--------
 
Mobius said:
Is there a limit to how many Windows XP Pro machines can be on a LAN?

We have a small office with one such machine that is hooked up to three
printers that we share with four other XP machines over a TCP/IP DHCP
network 'fed' from a ADSL modem-router and switch set-up.

Somebody mentioned that Windows XP allows only a limited number of computers
for file and printer sharing.

We are planning to add more Windows XP Pro machines to this network shortly.
All existing and planned PCs have and will have SP2 installed.

We shall certainly appreciate further information on this.

Regards and TIA.

Mobius
Click to expand...

XP Pro is limited to 10 simultaneous inbound connections. This does not
mean 10 computers: "This limit includes all transports and resource
sharing protocols combined." Each computer can - and often does -
establish more than a single connection. If you are considering adding
more than one or two more computers to your office, you should consider
installing a real server OS like Small Business Server on one of your
computers (or if you just need file serving, you can probably use some
flavor of Linux).

And BTW, you really should install SP3 on all of your existing
computers. See:

WinXP SP3 - Read all prerequisites for a successful installation
http://msmvps.com/blogs/harrywaldro...requisites-for-a-successful-installation.aspx

Free unlimited installation and compatibility support is available for
Windows XP, but only for Service Pack 3 (SP3) and *only until* 14 Apr-09.
Go to http://support.microsoft.com/oas/default.aspx?gprid=1173 | select
"Windows XP" then select "Windows XP Service Pack 3"

How to remove Windows XP Service Pack 3 from your computer:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/950249

About IE7 & IE8 and Windows XP Service Pack 3
http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2008/05/05/ie-and-xpsp3.aspx


--
Lem -- MS-MVP

To the moon and back with 2K words of RAM and 36K words of ROM.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_Guidance_Computer
http://history.nasa.gov/afj/compessay.htm
 
Total number of computers on a LAN is 1024. Do a Google search for 'maximum
computers on LAN'.
You can get other important info such as cable length etc.
 
Mobius said:
Is there a limit to how many Windows XP Pro machines can be on a LAN?
Click to expand...

Depends on the LAN.
We have a small office with one such machine that is hooked up to three
printers that we share with four other XP machines over a TCP/IP DHCP
network 'fed' from a ADSL modem-router and switch set-up.
Click to expand...

Most routers allow for a total of around 250 connections, with some
configuration to adjust the DHCP range.
Somebody mentioned that Windows XP allows only a limited number of
computers
for file and printer sharing.
Click to expand...

This is a completely different question to one on the subject line.

XP Pro allows a total of ten concurrent connections. XP Home allows five.

If you need more connections for file or printer sharing than this, you
should investigate the purchase and use of a small server.

It's worth noting that for simple file and printer sharing, many Linux
distributions are fairly easy to set up and configure. The Windows users
won't know the difference once the configuration is complete.
We are planning to add more Windows XP Pro machines to this network
shortly.
All existing and planned PCs have and will have SP2 installed.
Click to expand...

The SP level changes none of the answer.

HTH
-pk
 
XP Pro is limited to 10 simultaneous inbound connections. This does not
mean 10 computers: "This limit includes all transports and resource
sharing protocols combined." Each computer can - and often does -
establish more than a single connection. If you are considering adding
more than one or two more computers to your office, you should consider
installing a real server OS like Small Business Server on one of your
computers (or if you just need file serving, you can probably use some
flavor of Linux).

And BTW, you really should install SP3 on all of your existing
computers. See:

WinXP SP3 - Read all prerequisites for a successful installation
http://msmvps.com/blogs/harrywaldro...requisites-for-a-successful-installation.aspx

Free unlimited installation and compatibility support is available for
Windows XP, but only for Service Pack 3 (SP3) and *only until* 14 Apr-09.
Go to http://support.microsoft.com/oas/default.aspx?gprid=1173 | select
"Windows XP" then select "Windows XP Service Pack 3"

How to remove Windows XP Service Pack 3 from your computer:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/950249

About IE7 & IE8 and Windows XP Service Pack 3
http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2008/05/05/ie-and-xpsp3.aspx
Click to expand...

But they won't fix Vista to work with older sw and hw. Vista is very
unstable, often rebooting my laptop. I found the drivers for XP and it has
never rebooted on its own or locked up with it tries to figure out what is
going on. Dump Vista, go back to XP!
 
Total number of computers on a LAN is 1024. Do a Google search for 'maximum
computers on LAN'.
You can get other important info such as cable length etc.
Click to expand...

I've been doing Windows networking for a long time, and I've never
heard of a fixed limit to the number of computers on a LAN.

Would you please give a link to a reliable web site that specifies a
limit of 1024?
--
Best Wishes,
Steve Winograd, MS-MVP (Windows Desktop Experience)

Please post any reply as a follow-up message in the news group
for everyone to see. I'm sorry, but I don't answer questions
addressed directly to me in E-mail or news groups.

Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Program
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
 
Is there a limit to how many Windows XP Pro machines can be on a LAN?

We have a small office with one such machine that is hooked up to three
printers that we share with four other XP machines over a TCP/IP DHCP
network 'fed' from a ADSL modem-router and switch set-up.

Somebody mentioned that Windows XP allows only a limited number of computers
for file and printer sharing.

We are planning to add more Windows XP Pro machines to this network shortly.
All existing and planned PCs have and will have SP2 installed.

We shall certainly appreciate further information on this.

Regards and TIA.

Mobius
Click to expand...

To the best of my knowledge, no version of Windows limits the number
of machines that can be on a LAN.

A Windows XP Pro computer allows at most 10 other computers to connect
to its shared folders/printers at the same time. That has nothing to
do with the number of computers that can be present on the LAN.
--
Best Wishes,
Steve Winograd, MS-MVP (Windows Desktop Experience)

Please post any reply as a follow-up message in the news group
for everyone to see. I'm sorry, but I don't answer questions
addressed directly to me in E-mail or news groups.

Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Program
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
 
Don't worry about number of PCs connected on your network because the
number is quite large that your "small office" will ever be affected by
it. Companies like MS, Oracle, Dell etc have thousands of systems
connected at any one time and they seem to be running them quite
efficiently. When you are big enough, you will be able to get state of
the art network system. So don't worry. One thing you should do is
that always connect your "peer to peer" PCs or printers via a hub or a
router and so you will have faultless yet very efficient network system
for your small office. I have nearly 2000 systems at any one time at my
college and I have seen no problems thus far!!

hth
 
My response at bottom:
Mobius said:
Is there a limit to how many Windows XP Pro machines can be on a LAN?

We have a small office with one such machine that is hooked up to three
printers that we share with four other XP machines over a TCP/IP DHCP
network 'fed' from a ADSL modem-router and switch set-up.

Somebody mentioned that Windows XP allows only a limited number of
computers
for file and printer sharing.

We are planning to add more Windows XP Pro machines to this network
shortly.
All existing and planned PCs have and will have SP2 installed.

We shall certainly appreciate further information on this.

Regards and TIA.

Mobius
--------
Click to expand...


Thanks for all the informative responses.

We shall keep all factors in mind while updating/adding computers to the
network. We were actually considering installing Windows Server 2008 on the
"Server" and use it for printer sharing as well as over-the-network
back-ups.

We delayed installing Service Pack 3 because one trial update did not go too
well. Might have been a wrong choice of an option somewhere. This will be
looked into in detail sometime later. If so, then we would indeed upgrade to
SP3!

Regards and thanks again.

Mobius
--------
 
I should have qualified the statement with 'without additional components'.
(repeaters) Do a google search for 'maximum computers on lan' and click on
'lesson 3'. With repeaters there can be 100 computer per segment.
 
Mobius said:
My response at bottom:



Thanks for all the informative responses.

We shall keep all factors in mind while updating/adding computers to the
network. We were actually considering installing Windows Server 2008 on
the
"Server" and use it for printer sharing as well as over-the-network
back-ups.
Click to expand...

These are excellent reasons to install a real Server system.

With the Server OS, the technical limit on the connection number is removed,
but it's replaced by a *licensing* limitation.

The server is often sold as a package including some number of CALs or
Client Access Licenses, and beyond that, you have to pay MS a fee.

Here are some details, but not prices...
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2008/en/us/licensing-faq.aspx#cals

Here is a link that will give you an idea of the base price, with 5 CALs:
http://shopper.cnet.com/windows/microsoft-windows-server-2008/4014-3672_9-32805692.html

Elsewhere, a 20-pack of CALs can be under US$700.


Again, if you're looking at this for file and printer sharing, Linux can be
an excellent choice, and deserves a look.

You will still pay in terms of the learning curve, though. The software
being free does not mean that no costs are involved.

We delayed installing Service Pack 3 because one trial update did not go
too
well. Might have been a wrong choice of an option somewhere. This will be
looked into in detail sometime later. If so, then we would indeed upgrade
to
SP3!
Click to expand...

Download the full installer, burn it to CD, and upgrade from that after
checking for any conflicts. This can be stabler (and possibly faster) than
the Web update.

HTH
-pk
 
Mobius said:
Is there a limit to how many Windows XP Pro machines can be on a LAN?

We have a small office with one such machine that is hooked up to three
printers that we share with four other XP machines over a TCP/IP DHCP
network 'fed' from a ADSL modem-router and switch set-up.

Somebody mentioned that Windows XP allows only a limited number of computers
for file and printer sharing.

We are planning to add more Windows XP Pro machines to this network shortly.
All existing and planned PCs have and will have SP2 installed.

We shall certainly appreciate further information on this.

Regards and TIA.

Mobius
--------
Click to expand...

16,777,216 per network segment if the same NIC manufacturer is used in
each host. This is the limit of the lower 3 bytes of the MAC address
for a host which must be unique for each host within a network segment.
3 bytes = 24 bits. 2^24 = 16777216. If you mix vendors for the NICs,
then the OUI portion of the MAC would be different and you can put even
more hosts on the same network segment.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_address

That is a physical limit. Since you will be using Ethernet to connect
them then further limits are established depending on which class of IP
addressing you use. For now and without specifics about your network
setup and its DHCP configuration regarding its IP allocation to hosts,
figure you could have anywhere from 254 to 65K hosts on your network.

If you are asking about using mapped drives to identify networked
resources, well, there are only 26 letters in the alphabetic from which
to assign drive letters. A: and B: are always reserved for floppies.
Figuring you have at least one hard drive, say C:, then you have 23
drive designators left for physical or mapped drives.

Because of the limit of using mapped drives to denote network resources,
use a UNC path to the resource instead (\\hostname\path). See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Path_(computing)#Uniform_Naming_Convention.

If you are talking about how many connects *to* a host are allowed, and
for Windows XP Professional with is a workstation version of Windows and
NOT a server version, then the limit is 10 concurrent connections. See
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314882. After all, it a workstation,
NOT a server. That only limits the number of *concurrent* connections,
not how many hosts can connect to that host at different times.
 
Unknown said:
I should have qualified the statement with 'without additional components'.
(repeaters) Do a google search for 'maximum computers on lan' and click on
'lesson 3'. With repeaters there can be 100 computer per segment.
Click to expand...

So you know how to use Google and know how to click on a link, but you
haven't a clue on how to copy the URL link to include it in a post?
 
Unknown said:
I should have qualified the statement with 'without additional components'.
(repeaters) Do a google search for 'maximum computers on lan' and click on
'lesson 3'. With repeaters there can be 100 computer per segment.
Click to expand...

Huh? WTF is a repeater?
 
I should have qualified the statement with 'without additional components'.
(repeaters) Do a google search for 'maximum computers on lan' and click on
'lesson 3'. With repeaters there can be 100 computer per segment.
Click to expand...

Are you referring to this web page?

http://pluto.ksi.edu/~cyh/cis370/ebook/ch03d.htm

It describes networks that use coaxial cable (10Base2, 10Base5,
10BaseT). I haven't seen that type of network in several years.

Current networks use twisted pair cabling (100BaseTx, 1000BaseTx).
There are no segments, repeaters, or limits to the number of computers
in such networks.

And Windows itself has no limit on the number of computers in a
network.
--
Best Wishes,
Steve Winograd, MS-MVP (Windows Desktop Experience)

Please post any reply as a follow-up message in the news group
for everyone to see. I'm sorry, but I don't answer questions
addressed directly to me in E-mail or news groups.

Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Program
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com
 
Mobius said:
Is there a limit to how many Windows XP Pro machines can be on a LAN?

We have a small office with one such machine that is hooked up to three
printers that we share with four other XP machines over a TCP/IP DHCP
network 'fed' from a ADSL modem-router and switch set-up.

Somebody mentioned that Windows XP allows only a limited number of computers
for file and printer sharing.

We are planning to add more Windows XP Pro machines to this network shortly.
All existing and planned PCs have and will have SP2 installed.

We shall certainly appreciate further information on this.
Click to expand...


That depends entirely upon your specific LAN configuration, of which
you've told us nothing.

By design, the optimum size of a workgroup is 10 to 12 machines.
Beyond that number, network performance starts degrading noticeably and
the administrative head-aches start growing exponentially. Further,
WinXP Pro, like WinNT and Win2K, will allow a maximum of 10 simultaneous
connections. WinXP Home allows a maximum of 5 simultaneous inbound
connections.

If you have a domain, the number of workstations connecting to the
server is theoretically (but not technically) limited by the number of
Client Access Licenses (CALs) you've purchased.


--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:


http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. ~Bertrand Russell

The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has
killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot
 
Is there a limit to how many Windows XP Pro machines can be on a LAN?

We have a small office with one such machine that is hooked up to three
printers that we share with four other XP machines over a TCP/IP DHCP
network 'fed' from a ADSL modem-router and switch set-up.

Somebody mentioned that Windows XP allows only a limited number of computers
for file and printer sharing.

We are planning to add more Windows XP Pro machines to this network shortly.
All existing and planned PCs have and will have SP2 installed.

We shall certainly appreciate further information on this.
Click to expand...

Don't share the printers from a "Workstation" when you have more than
just a couple (5) workstations.

A Network Print server can be purchased for about $50 and that puts the
printer on the network instead of a computer, so all computers can map
directly to the printer via the network print server - no shared
computer needed at all.

As for how many on a LAN - as many as you want, but that's not the
question you really asked.

In the case of your network, since you're using the DSL modem, I'm going
to guess that it's setup with a Subnet Mask of 255.255.255.0 which gives
you 253 addresses for your network, each device will use of of those IP
addresses. Some networks have a 255.0.0.0 subnet mask, allows for a
BUNCH of computers on the network.

Depending on the type of printer interface, this device works well:

Parallel
www.netgear.com/Products/PrintServers/WiredPrintServers/PS101.aspx

USB
www.netgear.com/Products/PrintServers/WiredPrintServers/PS121.aspx
 
Lem said:
XP Pro is limited to 10 simultaneous inbound connections. This does
Click to expand...

This is connections per computer and not related to the number of computers
which can communicate on a LAN.
 
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