Faster CPUs—In the mid-1980s, the most common desktop workstation was a PC. At the time, most PCs could execute 1 million instructions per second (MIPS). Today, workstations with 50 to 75 MIPS of processing power are common, and I/O speeds have increased accordingly. Two modern engineering workstations on the same LAN can easily saturate it.

Faster operating systems—Until recently, operating system design had constrained network access. Of the three most common desktop operating systems (DOS/Windows, the UNIX operating system, and the Mac OS), only the UNIX operating system could multitask. Multitasking allows users to initiate simultaneous network transactions. With the release of Windows 95, which reflected a redesign of DOS/Windows that included multitasking, PC users could increase their demands for network resources.

Network-intensive applications—Use of client-server applications, such as Network File System (NFS), LAN Manager, NetWare, and World Wide Web is increasing. Client-server applications allow administrators to centralize information, thus making it easy to maintain and protect. Client-server applications free users from the burden of maintaining information and the cost of providing enough hard disk space to store it. Given the cost benefit of client-server applications, such applications are likely to become even more widely used in the future.