max number of connections - sharing question

Hi im curious on how the limit of 10 connections works for xp pro. My
question is if im sharing a folder and with 4 users and each of those users
open 10 files at one time doe that count for each connection or it per user
based i.e. i can have a max of 10 users but unlimited about of "open" files
to that share? reason i ask is id like to setup our account "server" on xp or
even vista and share - there is a max of 4 people who would use this share
(its more a database), but watching open files it tends to be messy as it
tends to leave lots open.

thanks