New Classroom 10 station Network purchase

[CaptainPugwash]

I'm new on this board, so please be gentle with me all you highly experienced sorts, but I need some quite basic advice.

Please understand that I am not asking these questions because I am some tight assed git trying to save money and do things on the cheap, but because we are based in a remote area in Greece and don't have many professional IT bods within around 200 kms of us! So I need to be very specific in what I ask for!

Before I get some local techies into our new place for the new setup I want, I want to know some very basic things, so that at least I know what to ask for and if I am being given the run around!

It's a new office and I need to buy 10 computers to use as learning stations for the new computer teaching classroom. So I will need at least 10 computers, and up to 12 initially, all networked and connected to the internet.

All we have at the moment in this whole setup, is a large classroom and a high speed internet connection!

So..... I need the computers and server etc..... What are the basics which you would recommend we would need for an efficient networked system for 10 to 12 workstations?

Is the new Windows Vista better than XP Pro for easily setting up and handling networks? If so, there are particular Vista which is best, just as XP Pro is better than XP Home for networks? Or are all Vistas the same?

Ideally, I would like a wireless set up, so as to simplify cabling. Would you recommend that? Or would you say that I am likely to have more problems with wireless? Also, would wireless be much more expensive to set up than cables?

What is the 'ideal' basic specification of the workstations? HDD size, Memory size, processor size, etc?

I understand that students will be storing their work on the 'server', not on the workstation computer? Is that right? So what is loaded on the workstation hard drive?

Would the main programmes such as MS Works, Adobe Acrobat, Photoshop, etc be kept on the servers hardrive, or do they all have to be loaded on each seperate workstation?

So..... any responses to these, and other questions which I have failed to ask and should have asked, would be greatly appreciated..... beginning with the list of hardware I should be asking for!

Many thanks to one and all.....

 

[saltynay]

I can help you on terms of standard specs for my school computers we currently have 130 school computers they are all connected through a fibreoptic lan network all areas of the school also have wireless(g) 54mbps coverage . The network is open and controlled by registering Mac addresses which are allowed to access the network. The specs of the workstations are:

amd 3200+
40gb hardrive (ide)
1gb of ram
300W psu
Don't know the motherboard but would hazard a guess at it being an msi

 

[Sora]

First off XP Pro SP2 is what you will want for stability right now if you are running a learning area.

I understand that you will be using these computers for photoshop right? How many types of graphic arts programs are you going to be using?

If you are using them a fair amount then you're going to want to make sure you find either a motherboard with pretty good onboard graphics or a cheap PCI-E graphics card for 50 bucks or so to throw into them.

As for the HDD get 40GB IDE HD's to save programs and work and such that is plenty.

512mb ram is enough for things like this but 1GB will be perfect.

As for the PSU a good 300-350w is all you need.

For the processor i would recommend an athlon single core usually but since these are brand new systems not only are X2 dual-cores not that much more the cost of DDR2 memory is now cheaper than the old DDR memory Athlons run standard with.