How can you copy very large files (such as digitized medical records or videos) to lots of machines quickly? Try a two-stage file copy model as follows: Have your primary server copy the file to ten servers, and then have each of these servers copy it again to ten others. This will let you distribute the files quickly to 100 second-stage servers provided the network has available bandwidth for doing this. You can even implement this model by executing remote processes i.e. there's no need to install any software on your second-stage servers.
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Mitch Tulloch is lead author for the Windows Vista Resource Kit from Microsoft Press, which is THE book for IT pros who want to deploy, maintain and support Windows Vista in mid- and large-sized network environments. Mitch is also the author of Introducing Windows Server 2008, the first book from Microsoft Press about the exciting new server platform. For more information on these and other books written by Mitch, see www.mtit.com.
