[WEB4LIB] cable modems for public internet PCs

[Andrew I. Mutch]

Tracey,

I guess a lot of the answers depend on how this is going to be
implemented.  Some questions I would have are:

1) What is your current connection? What is the bandwith it provides?

2) How are you going to utilize the cable connection?  How many PCs will
be using it?

3) What is the current state of your networking infrastructure?

Right off hand, it seems to me that many of your current issues could be
addressed through separating your staff and public networks. With a router
and a firewall, there's no reason that the staff and public computers
couldn't run on physically separate networks while still sharing the same
connection out to the Internet.  

Andrew Mutch
Library Systems Technician
Waterford Township Public Library
Waterford, MI


On Fri, 28 Dec 2001, Reed, Tracey wrote:

> Hi y'all!  Happy New Year!
> 
> We're considering going to cable modems for our public Internet PCs.  The
> City IT department is anxious to do this, but I can see pros and cons to it.
> 
> The concerns we have - off the tops of our heads - are subscription database
> access, filtering potential, networking for printing & sign-up, bandwidth
> setup for multiple PCs, and flexibility for a temporary location while our
> new Main Library is being built.
> 
> The benefit we can see is getting the PCs on a separate connection than the
> staff PCs which is currently a big security, bandwidth and cabling
> nightmare.  
> 
> Has anyone done this?  Can anyone see other concerns or benefits that we're
> missing.  
> 
> TIA - 
> 
> -tracey
> 
> 
> ___________________
> Tracey Reed
> Webmaster/Systems Analyst
> Clearwater Public Library System, Clearwater, FL.
> treed at clearwater-fl.com
>