I want to set up a network music server with one client, a single machine in
my listening room.

Since actual throughput on a 100 mb network depends to a great extent on
factors other than the actual physical layer, I'd appreciate any rules of
thumb determined by experience. A single channel is about 2.3 mb/second, 8
channels = 18.4 mb/second.

I want to feed an 8-channel D/A, at 96/24 resolution, directly from Adobe
Audition, but the files will be on the server. Both machines will run
Windows 2000, with Ethernet adaptors on standard 32 bit PCI buses.

Is this actually practical with desktop machines you've used?