Terminal Services or Not
I have two branch offices. They were originally setup as terminal services. They have a direct connect on the network to email, printers, drive folders, etc. except our POS system. For the POS they have to remote into the branch server which is a terminal service server. They have the POS software on their machines but don't use it and instead use it in the remote session. It just points to a UNC path for data connection which they can connect to without being on the terminal server. Terminal services are, I think, a pain to deal with.
I would like to do away with the TS and go with them just accessing the software.
I would like to know the pros and cons of doing this.
I know one con maybe that one of the branches only has 6Mbps connection. The other has a 50Mbps and I have a 200Mbps.
Any other thoughts?
I would like to do away with the TS and go with them just accessing the software.
I would like to know the pros and cons of doing this.
I know one con maybe that one of the branches only has 6Mbps connection. The other has a 50Mbps and I have a 200Mbps.
Any other thoughts?
ASKER
The branch with 6 is both up and down, they are still on a T1. The other branch is 50/10 and we are 200/15.
Painful because the app we do use makes having them all use the same server difficult. Especially when it comes to printing. Yes it is a SQL based POS. The local app has a config file that points to the path of the data which is the sql server here at corporate.
It is more difficult with the terminal when we lose connection between the two. If here in the office for some reason a machine would lose connection with the server they would could just leave the computer and app just as it was and pick back up when the connection comes back. Worse case they lose the order they were in at the time if they had not saved it. With the terminal that is not the case, they have to log out of the terminal session completely then go back in and go back into the software. If they lose internet connection on their end or we lose on our end they have to get out of the terminal session and then go back in and then go back into the software and they do lose their work more than others because the connection may have been lost before they even realized it and didn't know until they hit save which then doesn't work.
Painful because the app we do use makes having them all use the same server difficult. Especially when it comes to printing. Yes it is a SQL based POS. The local app has a config file that points to the path of the data which is the sql server here at corporate.
It is more difficult with the terminal when we lose connection between the two. If here in the office for some reason a machine would lose connection with the server they would could just leave the computer and app just as it was and pick back up when the connection comes back. Worse case they lose the order they were in at the time if they had not saved it. With the terminal that is not the case, they have to log out of the terminal session completely then go back in and go back into the software. If they lose internet connection on their end or we lose on our end they have to get out of the terminal session and then go back in and then go back into the software and they do lose their work more than others because the connection may have been lost before they even realized it and didn't know until they hit save which then doesn't work.
ASKER
To add to my question, do I need to have terminal services on it's own server? Seems like a lot of hardware for one service to run on. I am incorporating a new 2008 server, it has terminal services incorporated (Remote Desktop services), do I need a different license for this? My current terminal services is 2003.
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ASKER
Thank you. That does answer my question. That does lay it out better for me. I have found that I do have a license already for the Win2008 so I should be ok there. I will go with the TS.
I don't know what you find painful.
Also don't know how the program works - if it's a SQL based point of Sale, then bandwidth shouldn't be too much of a concern... but a solid connection would be. If the link fails even briefly, the app on the remote end could crash thinking the server is no longer available (I have a client with a Line Of Business app that has these issues).