The only thing I would really suggest is that if you have the money to spend on all these new machines and software that you should spend the money to upgrade gigabit switches for your backbone. They have come down in price drastically since they were introduced and are very affordable these days. There are several 24 port models you can purchase for less than $500. We ended up using a rack mountable Netgear model that was about $380. The boost in speed is extremely noticeable and with how large files are getting these days, you can probably justify the cost to your purchase authorizer by explaining the gain in productivity time, as well as purchasing a longer life out of your network hardware. I'm sure he/she will understand by your detailed explanation and be so happy that they'll give you the money out of petty cash right then and there...