>>The larger question is, as a developer, should I make it my responsibility to develop applications so robust that they will function on a badly maintained network?
>
>You can certainly try, but there's no way you can anticipate ALL the happy things that networks can/will do to your system (remembering some of the most interesting questions I have posed to this forum).
>
>You should work as closely with the network support personnel as you can, after all yer both in the battle together, and you would just be AMAZED how cooperative NSS's can be when you come at them with the attitude "How are we gonna solve this problem" versus "Your network is cratering my system"
>
> my opinion, for what it's worth.

That's pretty much my approach, but I'm hindered by frustrated users and brand new network manager who's trying to clean up the image of Network Support in general.

We are in the process to switching from Novell 3.12 to NT 4.0 which I expect to solve many problems, but the Novell Server will remain up for at least another 2 months until all the necessary software has been upgraded. This means duplicated packet transmission etc. etc. Adding to that, the current config is about 100 users on a handful of segments that aren't clearly defined and ...well... you kinda get the picture. It's a mess.

There's no good reason for the traffic, kinda like the Bronx Thruway in NYC...terminally under construction and heavy traffic 16 hours a day.

Oh well, I guess I'm just whining.

Thanks for the input.

Matt McDonnell
...building a better mousetrap with moldy cheese...