Wide-Area-Network Performance Questions

If one were to consider replacing a ver 5.1C 386-based standalone database with a ver 6.0 SparcIPX-based RDBMS and DOS-based clients at both local Ethernet sites as well as at remote sites (over 14.4kbs phone lines), could anyone give some hints regarding the following:

1. What sort of performance difference can be expected in running a client (i.e., SQL*Forms and SQL*Reportwriter) over local Ethernet vs modem?
2. Is client Forms and Reports performance generally acceptable over Ethernet?
3. How crucial is the Forms design to performance (i.e., how much traffic can be eliminated through correct design? -- this is obviously a concern for the remote sites)
4. What about performance of the same Forms and Reports on a stand-alone Sun system (i.e., buy client tools for Sparc and use telnet sessions from DOS sites) versus the Ethernet-based client/server as described above?
5. How painful is the conversion from
   1. Forms 2.3 to 3.0 on DOS?
   2. DOS Forms 2.3 to Sun Forms 2.3 or 3.0?
   3. DOS Reports to Sun Reports?

Thanks,

Dave Caughey				Dept. of Elec. & Comp. Engineering
caughey_at_sirius.uvic.ca			P.O. Box 3055
                      			University of Victoria		  
"Ten million lemmings can't be wrong"   Victoria, B.C., CANADA V8W 3P6