Softdent / Hardware question (KEVIN)

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My wife is a dentist, and her office needs to upgrade their computer
system. The system they are working on is about five years old, and
showing the strain. They are exploring a number of things right now.
First, they are planning on upgrading to the newest version of
SoftDent. OK, I think that's straightforward enough.

Secondly, they need new PC's all across the board, and ideally a
server
and computers in the operatories. They got a quote from a company
referred by SoftDent, and I was blown away by their prices. It seems
that they add a gigantic markup for every single item.

The SoftDent people "strongly recommended" that my wife's doesn't buy
hardware on their own, because it might not be configured properly.

I guess my question is this: Are there really some secret magical
ingredients that are so special to a dental office that you need a
special dental hardware company to install everything for you? I
totally understand that having a professional install your hardware
gives a certain amount of piece of mind, but I feel like they're being
played ("Hey, they're dentists, what do they know? We'll up the price
and scare them from going anyplace else.")

Have other dentists out there set up a networked system on their own
and lived to tell the tale? Or even purchased the hardware personally
(like from Dell) and had a hardware guy wire everything together and
make the network work?

Thanks in advance,
Kevin

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#2    12-24-2004, 08:58 AM  
Joel344  
Member   Join Date: Oct 2004
Posts: 5,227  

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Scroll down for original questions .....

Roy Brown wrote:

They were given two quotes. Phase 1, which includes 4 computers (2
front desk, 1 office manager, 1 doctor) and Phase 2, which added six
more (1 server, 5 operatory PC's).

There are about 15 people who work there.

Not sure.

Other than SoftDent? Probably just basic things like Word, Excel, etc.
Nothing fancy.

couple of

Then
upgraded

have been

been able

office
handle

Not sure. At this point they could, because they're running very
low-tech right now.

Thanks,
Kevin

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#3       12-24-2004, 09:40 AM  
billkatz  
Member   Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 591  

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Here you go Joel, please pass on to Kevin,  

There is no mystery in setting up one of these networks and in fact, if
you have fewer than seven or eight computers, you don?t need a dedicated
server. If you were in the business, you?d know just how high of a
markup some of these people tack on to the systems they sell.

Here?s a little advice on setting one of these up. Please understand
that larger networks are more demanding but these rules can be applied
to most small office networks.

1. Cabling. Cabling is probably the most ignored yet most crucial part
of your network. In computer network terms, the cabling system is
similar to the arteries in the body. A professionally run and category
5e or better tested and certified cabling system is critical with a
modern network. The older versions of Softdent may have worked well
enough with non compliant cabling but the new version will bomb. This
is because the new version of Softdent (or most any other PMS) will
pump huge amounts of data over the cabling infrastructure. Wireless is
not approved by any of the major PM systems. Verifying (having your
infrastructure tested) is probably the best first step. Look in the
yellow pages under Computer/Network and you?ll see a bunch of resources
there.
2. Network Switch and Network Interfaces. The data being pumped over
your network is driven by the network interfaces on the computers and
the network switch is the ?traffic cop? that directs it all. Brands
like Intel, 3Com and Cisco make the best quality switches and interface
cards. Cheap knock-off equipment won?t provide you with good results.
They may work well for ?surfing the net? but they don?t work well in
high demand environments like a database. In this case like in any
other, the adage of ?you get what you pay for? really holds true.
You?ll notice this when shopping around companies like Dell. Their
cheapie systems use BroadComm adapters while their high end Precision
units use Intel or 3Com.
3. Processor. One should look the guidelines published by Softdent.
They suggest that you use the Intel Pentium4 line of processor and not
the Celeron. AMD processors are not in the certified use list. See
http://www.practiceworks.com/Hardware/Softdent.pdf for more details. I
personally like the new 64bit processors that AMD sells but none of the
PM companies have yet certified them for use. If you decide to go that
route then understand that support might blame a software problem on
your hardware
4. Other Front Office Stuff. On systems with nine or fewer workstations
you can get away with using a peer to peer network even though I
sometimes lessen those numbers to seven or eight for performance
reasons. On systems with ten or more you?ll need a dedicated file
server. In either case, the machine holding the data should have enough
memory and a quick hard drive. Serial ATA hard drives are the way to go
with the main machine. I like to use mirrored drives (RAID1) so if one
burns up, the other one still keeps the data. If you?re planning on
going digital then you?ll need at least 120GB serial ATA. 200GB is even
better for storing things like digital radiographs. The server machine
should also have one gigabyte of RAM. Front office workstations can use
the lower end 40GB hard drives with no problem and they should have 512
RAM.
5. Clinical Stations. Softdent requires their clinical stations to have
a gigabyte of RAM if you?re planning on going digital. A small 40GB hard
drive is enough. High quality 17? LCD?s are also a good idea in
operatories. Don?t buy the cheap ones. Look at brands like NEC or
Samsung. Again, you get what you pay for?
6. Operating System. Never and I mean Never use XP Home with Softdent.
It is not supported. Use XP Pro for the workstations and Windows 2000
or 2003 Server if you need a dedicated server.
7. Stay within the published hardware guidelines if possible. Things
like print servers, remote storage devices instead, non approved or
tested printers, etc may work but they?re not supported and you?ll be
handling your own quality control. IMHO, not a great idea.
8. Deployment. Find someone who?s savvy with PM systems in your town.
Ask your colleagues and they?ll tell you. Things like opportunistic
locking, sharing and files permissions, etc should be addressed when
setting one of these networks up. Don?t use someone?s ?computer whiz
kid? unless they?ve set a PM system up before.

Regards,
-b

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#4       12-24-2004, 10:04 AM  
billkatz  
Member   Join Date: Nov 2004
Posts: 591  

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I personally prefer Dentrix and Softdent over Eaglesoft but that's an
opinion and you know what opinions are like. I like Dentrix because of
the support staff, Softdent because of the accounting capabilities.

I recently upgraded an office from Dentrix to Eaglesoft. Well...
You know how I am about quotes...
Here's a quote from the office manager...
"Doc is going to have to give me a raise if he expects me to use this."

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#5       04-09-2005, 04:16 AM  
mbrock5532  
Member   Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Tucson, AZ
Age: 45
Posts: 1  

SoftDent and AMD Processors

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I recently built 9 workstations and a new server for a dental client
using SoftDent.

The workstations are AMD 2600+ with 512MB RAM and 40GB Hard Drives.

The server is an AMD64 3400+ with 1GB RAM and 4 200GB SATA drives.

I talked with SoftDent technical support as well as their Senior
Software Engineer, and all said there were no problems with AMD
processors. Their engineer said they have AMD64 servers in house as
well as customers with them, and there have been no more problems than
with systems using Intel processors.

These systems are very fast and reasonably priced. I built them all
from scratch, but you can get good pre-built ones as well.

This weekend I am upgrading the server from Windows XP to Windows
Server 2003. Such joy fills my heart!

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#6       04-09-2005, 09:50 AM  
jshafer817  
Member   Join Date: Oct 2004
Posts: 98  

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I want the AMD64. I currently have the AMD XP 2600+, which finally died
about a week ago. I ran it for almost 3 years straight, and its still
under warranty. Right now I am using a Duron 700 (grrrr), waiting for
my RMA processor.
Its almost time to upgrade to the AMD64, but I am waiting a little bit
longer.

The XP 2600 is fast enough for me anyways, until I play far cry.

That is one fast server you built. Congrats.

__________________
A+ N+ MCP2000 Microsoft Certified Professional and Red Hat Linux
Certified Technician
Justin Shafer
Onsite Dental Systems
Fort Worth, TX.
8179094222

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#7       04-17-2006, 02:26 PM  
computerguy  
Member   Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Eskridge, Kansas
Posts: 1  

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Joel344
My wife is a dentist, and her office needs to upgrade their computer
system. The system they are working on is about five years old, and
showing the strain. They are exploring a number of things right now.
First, they are planning on upgrading to the newest version of
SoftDent. OK, I think that's straightforward enough.

Secondly, they need new PC's all across the board, and ideally a
server
and computers in the operatories. They got a quote from a company
referred by SoftDent, and I was blown away by their prices. It seems
that they add a gigantic markup for every single item.

The SoftDent people "strongly recommended" that my wife's doesn't buy
hardware on their own, because it might not be configured properly.

I guess my question is this: Are there really some secret magical
ingredients that are so special to a dental office that you need a
special dental hardware company to install everything for you? I
totally understand that having a professional install your hardware
gives a certain amount of piece of mind, but I feel like they're being
played ("Hey, they're dentists, what do they know? We'll up the price
and scare them from going anyplace else.")

Have other dentists out there set up a networked system on their own
and lived to tell the tale? Or even purchased the hardware personally
(like from Dell) and had a hardware guy wire everything together and
make the network work?

Thanks in advance,
Kevin

Hi I'm a new user on your forum! Two years ago I visited a Dental
office here in Topeka, KS and ended up being their new Computerguy.
They had a dysfunctional Peer to Peer that had the Softdent Software
setup with Licensing Key on just one of their Peer to Peer computers
and then the other computers would of course have full control of the
Softdent folder on the main Peer to Peer computer. Needless to say they
were always disconnecting from each other on the Peer to Peer network.
While getting my teeth cleaned I became their Computerguy and
immediately stated they needed a Server and they needed to go from
their Peer to Peer to a Client Server Relationship. I made them a deal
they couldn't refuse and immediately converted them to a fully
functional computer system and have remained their Computerguy for over
two years now. There are computerguys out in the real world that would
gladly take on your computer tasks without you having to go to a
company that specializes in Dental computers to rake you over the
coals. If your in Topeka, Id be more than happy to become your new
Computerguy and convert your system over for you. I have over 15 years
experience in IS and PC's. BTW - Now Softdent has the 11.0.1 Version
that supposedly isn't compatible with NT Server 4.0 and I'm once again
upgrading their Server to Windows Server 2003 Standard and making them
a deal they can't refuse and am in the process of the upgrade as I
post. The only problem I've found with any upgrade is being able to get
a hold of Softdent support long enough to get the job done within 2
nights. Otherwise, your at the Softdent Support mercy and it takes a
while.

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