Guest Darryl Posted October 8, 2007 Posted October 8, 2007 I have a new custom app that will rolling out soon and have a question regarding the best way to offer up the software. We have 8 sites total (corporate and 7 remote offices). None cuurently have servers installed at their locations. What is the best way (not necessarily cost effective but best performance way) to accomplish this? Example: install a server at each location along with the application and replicate the data at predetermined intervals? The custom app is written in .NET, VB, and backended by SQL 2005. All workstations are Win XP Pro. All locations are connected to corporate via dedicated PTP T1's with all Cisco hardware. I have read a lot of stuff online and I keep seeing DFS and all of it's related pcs. I guess confusion is my greatest hurdle right now. I'm not sure which direction to go. Any help would be greatly appreciated. DL
Guest Jabez Gan [MVP] Posted October 9, 2007 Posted October 9, 2007 Re: Branch Office Application For the machines in the remote offices, are they connected to an AD? if no, then usually the deploying means instructing the users to run the setup file manually instead of automating the entire installation. And since it's a remote office, the best practice is to have a DC in each office. DC = domain controller = windows server. DFS is part of Windows Server R2. DFS = Distributed File System -- Jabez Gan Microsoft MVP: Windows Server - File Storage "Darryl" <Darryl@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:768FB058-C5F6-4E2F-9109-E1B700E6F5DA@microsoft.com... >I have a new custom app that will rolling out soon and have a question > regarding the best way to offer up the software. We have 8 sites total > (corporate and 7 remote offices). None cuurently have servers installed at > their locations. What is the best way (not necessarily cost effective but > best performance way) to accomplish this? Example: install a server at > each > location along with the application and replicate the data at > predetermined > intervals? The custom app is written in .NET, VB, and backended by SQL > 2005. > All workstations are Win XP Pro. All locations are connected to corporate > via > dedicated PTP T1's with all Cisco hardware. I have read a lot of stuff > online > and I keep seeing DFS and all of it's related pcs. I guess confusion is my > greatest hurdle right now. I'm not sure which direction to go. > > Any help would be greatly appreciated. > > DL
Guest Anthony Posted October 9, 2007 Posted October 9, 2007 Re: Branch Office Application Darryl, You have two main choices: distributed application, or terminal services. Distributed application will probably give you the best out and out performance; TS will give you more reliability, more coherent data, and lower maintenance costs. It depends a lot on the exact circumstances of the case. For distributed app you would need a DC and a server locally. Its best not to run anything on the DC, as it means giving access to it. DFS is a way of replicating files but not databases. You would need to figure out in your application architecture how you want to get the data from place to place. I would start by assuming TS, and then examine any arguments why that won't work, Hope that helps, Anthony, http://www.airdesk.co.uk "Darryl" <Darryl@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:768FB058-C5F6-4E2F-9109-E1B700E6F5DA@microsoft.com... >I have a new custom app that will rolling out soon and have a question > regarding the best way to offer up the software. We have 8 sites total > (corporate and 7 remote offices). None cuurently have servers installed at > their locations. What is the best way (not necessarily cost effective but > best performance way) to accomplish this? Example: install a server at > each > location along with the application and replicate the data at > predetermined > intervals? The custom app is written in .NET, VB, and backended by SQL > 2005. > All workstations are Win XP Pro. All locations are connected to corporate > via > dedicated PTP T1's with all Cisco hardware. I have read a lot of stuff > online > and I keep seeing DFS and all of it's related pcs. I guess confusion is my > greatest hurdle right now. I'm not sure which direction to go. > > Any help would be greatly appreciated. > > DL
Guest Darryl Posted October 9, 2007 Posted October 9, 2007 Re: Branch Office Application Thanks to both of you for responding so quickly. Would TS require a server at each location? (I am currently researching TS but anything extra helps) Obviously one of the benefits to having a local server would allow for faster processing of the app right? We don't want to be a one of those companies that if we have a power outage at corporate then all sites are down, etc. Disaster recovery is also a consideration. I can put servers at each location without a problem. DC and all that. I do know that the application "will" check that you have the latest and install it if necessary. When you say distributed application would this require an Application Server at each site? What is the best way to sync data in the event of a server at each site? Again thank you for the information provided and anything else you might offer. "Anthony" wrote: > Darryl, > You have two main choices: distributed application, or terminal services. > Distributed application will probably give you the best out and out > performance; TS will give you more reliability, more coherent data, and > lower maintenance costs. It depends a lot on the exact circumstances of the > case. > For distributed app you would need a DC and a server locally. Its best not > to run anything on the DC, as it means giving access to it. DFS is a way of > replicating files but not databases. You would need to figure out in your > application architecture how you want to get the data from place to place. > I would start by assuming TS, and then examine any arguments why that won't > work, > Hope that helps, > Anthony, http://www.airdesk.co.uk > > > "Darryl" <Darryl@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message > news:768FB058-C5F6-4E2F-9109-E1B700E6F5DA@microsoft.com... > >I have a new custom app that will rolling out soon and have a question > > regarding the best way to offer up the software. We have 8 sites total > > (corporate and 7 remote offices). None cuurently have servers installed at > > their locations. What is the best way (not necessarily cost effective but > > best performance way) to accomplish this? Example: install a server at > > each > > location along with the application and replicate the data at > > predetermined > > intervals? The custom app is written in .NET, VB, and backended by SQL > > 2005. > > All workstations are Win XP Pro. All locations are connected to corporate > > via > > dedicated PTP T1's with all Cisco hardware. I have read a lot of stuff > > online > > and I keep seeing DFS and all of it's related pcs. I guess confusion is my > > greatest hurdle right now. I'm not sure which direction to go. > > > > Any help would be greatly appreciated. > > > > DL > > >
Guest Anthony Posted October 10, 2007 Posted October 10, 2007 Re: Branch Office Application Daryl, TS is generally centralised. If you really are worried about a failure at the main site, you can create a second TS site for resilience. Then both would have to be down for that to be a problem. You would really have to know a lot about the app to know whether it works best distributed or centralised. I don't think its possible to give any general rule. Just think about where the data is, how up to date it is, and how it gets to where its needed. If you google on Distributed Application you might get some ideas, Anthony, http://www.airdesk.com "Darryl" <Darryl@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:43316763-49B5-49EB-AC70-EEFFE4D6F419@microsoft.com... > Thanks to both of you for responding so quickly. Would TS require a server > at > each location? (I am currently researching TS but anything extra helps) > Obviously one of the benefits to having a local server would allow for > faster > processing of the app right? We don't want to be a one of those companies > that if we have a power outage at corporate then all sites are down, etc. > Disaster recovery is also a consideration. I can put servers at each > location > without a problem. DC and all that. I do know that the application "will" > check that you have the latest and install it if necessary. When you say > distributed application would this require an Application Server at each > site? What is the best way to sync data in the event of a server at each > site? > > Again thank you for the information provided and anything else you might > offer. > > "Anthony" wrote: > >> Darryl, >> You have two main choices: distributed application, or terminal services. >> Distributed application will probably give you the best out and out >> performance; TS will give you more reliability, more coherent data, and >> lower maintenance costs. It depends a lot on the exact circumstances of >> the >> case. >> For distributed app you would need a DC and a server locally. Its best >> not >> to run anything on the DC, as it means giving access to it. DFS is a way >> of >> replicating files but not databases. You would need to figure out in your >> application architecture how you want to get the data from place to >> place. >> I would start by assuming TS, and then examine any arguments why that >> won't >> work, >> Hope that helps, >> Anthony, http://www.airdesk.co.uk >> >> >> "Darryl" <Darryl@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message >> news:768FB058-C5F6-4E2F-9109-E1B700E6F5DA@microsoft.com... >> >I have a new custom app that will rolling out soon and have a question >> > regarding the best way to offer up the software. We have 8 sites total >> > (corporate and 7 remote offices). None cuurently have servers installed >> > at >> > their locations. What is the best way (not necessarily cost effective >> > but >> > best performance way) to accomplish this? Example: install a server at >> > each >> > location along with the application and replicate the data at >> > predetermined >> > intervals? The custom app is written in .NET, VB, and backended by SQL >> > 2005. >> > All workstations are Win XP Pro. All locations are connected to >> > corporate >> > via >> > dedicated PTP T1's with all Cisco hardware. I have read a lot of stuff >> > online >> > and I keep seeing DFS and all of it's related pcs. I guess confusion is >> > my >> > greatest hurdle right now. I'm not sure which direction to go. >> > >> > Any help would be greatly appreciated. >> > >> > DL >> >> >>
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