The first thing to realize is your father's network isn't going to cut it
as these systems and their storage get larger and larger.  It's time to
evaluate a large upgrade to the network infrastructure in most shops.
 There are two bits of good news in this:

1. Network hardware is fairly cheap.  For less than $20,000 you can arm
yourself with a very nice 100 Mbit switch and all the NICs you need to
dramatically improve a computer room network.
2. Most of these systems and their network backup counterparts are
reasonably close to one another, usually in a computer room, so the cost of
stringing wire to the newly acquired network hardware will not be
unreasonably high.

SInce we seem to have unlimited dollars to spend on file and application
servers and their storage, why can't we have limited, yet reasonable
dollars to upgrade our network and backup solutions?

I realize I'm flying in the face of illogic here, but I'm just like that.

Kelly J. Lipp
Storage Solutions Specialists, Inc.
www.storsol.com
lipp AT storsol DOT com
(719)531-5926