Running applications over the network

[Pete Zaria]

Posted this in Internet, Networking & Security before I realized there was a more specific fourm, sorry. Here it is:

My home network consists of a Linux box for a firewall/router and a Windows Server 2003 Standard box that runs ActiveDirectory and acts as a file server. I have about 10 client PCs on the network. 7 are Win XP Pro SP2, 2 are Win 2k Pro, and 1 is Linux. But this question only applies to the XP Pro boxes, really.

Here's the problem. Every 3 months I reformat all my Windoze machines, to keep them running smoothly. I'm really tired of re-installing MSFT Office, the Macromedia and Adobe suites, etc... every time I reformat. I figure, I already have a server, so why not take advantage of it? What I want to do is install all my applications onto the server and run them over the network. I know it can be done but I have no idea how. I'm pretty advanced with networking and security already, so I don't need a step-by-step guide, I just need someone to point me in the right direction. Anyone know?

Thanks a bunch.

Peace,

Pete Zaria.

[MazX_Napalm]

Its called Terminal Services.

There are some pro's and some con's.

It is better to have a dedicated server running the applications rather than using your PDC.

The server would need to be high spec if you wanted more than a few users on at once (think dual cpu, fast hdd's, and preferably mirrored)

TS client licenses need to be purchased, they are not free (they are for the first 60 days, I think)

You will need to read the EULA for each piece of software to see if you are legally allowed to run it in this manner. Some don't allow it and others have special licensing for TS.

You need a fair bandwidth to run soothly (ask any IT guy who runs RDP on a busy server). 100Mbit will work, but a good gigabit on cat6 would be ideal.

The clients don't need to be anything special as they only send and receive kmv. Something like a P2 with 16Mb ram would work just fine. The server is doing all the work.

Less management after initial setup.

I would suggest imaging your installs rather as an option. Load up a pc, updates (and autopatcher) activate everything and then make the image. Later you can just pop the image onto the pc. If there are further updates, put the image on and then update and take a new image. If your pc's are very much same spec, then one image for all (hint: run sysprep before taking the image).

[Pete Zaria]

Thanks for the reply.

I'm already using terminal services. That's not what I want.

I want to be able to install the software on the server and then use the software from any other PC, over the network. Not screen emulation.

Terminal Services doens't work well for my purpose because lots of the work I do is graphics intensive, which doesn't work well over remote desktop/terminal services.

Processing power isn't really a problem. I have some high-spec machines I could use for this.

If I share the C:\Program Files\ folder of one of my PCs, I can run quite a few of the programs over the network, however some programs require registry keys and etc... to run (such as the Macromedia suite) so that doesn't work.

Any other ideas?

Peace,

Pete Zaria.

Edit: I've thought about the imaging idea before. The problem is, none of the PCs have the same hardware, so that'd mean making a seperate image for each machine, and then figuring out a place to store it. That's my backup plan, but I'm really hoping to be able to run my apps over the network. With ActiveDirectory all of my documents and settings are on my server anyway, so I don't have to back anything up when I reformat, it's just re-installing all my programs that bugs the living hell out of me.

2nd Edit:

I know this is possible. I did some contract work for a local accounting firm (spent 3 days running ethernet cable and setting up activedirectory users... lol) and they had this exact same thing set up. There was a dual 2 GHz server in a rack that hosted applications. You could access them from any PC on the network, and no, not through terminal services. When you launched Word from your desktop on a network machine, it opened the copy of Word on the server. This is exactly what I want. Anyone? Please? :cry:

Edited September 1, 2005 by Pete Zaria

[Pete Zaria]

Just came up with an idea, tell me if you can come up with any flaws in this plan.

Format the network PCs. Map drive letter "Z" to a shared folder on the network server. Then install the software to drive Z. Make a backup of the registry.

Then when I format, all I'd need to do is import the registry backup and I could still run the software from drive Z.

Anyone have a better idea, or see any problems with this one?

Peace,

Pete Zaria.

[bankajac]

Yeh, I think that your idea will work. In your scenario, your server will be acting as a file server and not actually running the software. It will be providing the files for the client to run locally.

When you run word from a client, it will go to the server (drive Z) and open word.exe. In contrast with the accounting firm scenario, word.exe will not be running on the server but on the client.

Let us know how it all went for you.

[MazX_Napalm]

  Pete Zaria said:

I'm already using terminal services. That's not what I want.

I want to be able to install the software on the server and then use the software from any other PC, over the network. Not screen emulation.

Terminal Services doens't work well for my purpose because lots of the work I do is graphics intensive, which doesn't work well over remote desktop/terminal services.

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What do you think Terminal Services is? You must be thinking of the Admin part of TS.

  Quote

When a user runs an application on a Windows 2000-based terminal server, all of the application execution takes place on the server and only the keyboard, mouse and display information are transmitted over the network. Each user sees only their individual session, which is managed transparently by the server operating system and is independent of any other client session.

Source:Microsoft Web Site

[Pete Zaria]

Exactly. Terminal Services is like Remote Desktop or VNC. Screen emulation. I don't want the programs to be executed on the server, I only want them to be STORED on the server. Thus installing them to a network drive :) Do you think the idea I mentioned above will work?

Peace,

Pete Zaria.

[CryptoKnight]

This is what SofTricity SoftGrid is for.

www.softricity.com

[Billprozac]

The only problem I see is that in addition to the program files, files are added to your application settings folder which is stored locally by default. YOu could use roaming profiles to store that in the server.

[Pete Zaria]

  Billprozac said:

The only problem I see is that in addition to the program files, files are added to your application settings folder which is stored locally by default. YOu could use roaming profiles to store that in the server.

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Alreaedy thought of this and took care of it. The only problem I've found so far is the registry backup/import process after a format. I don't want to back up all of the registry keys, only the ones that apply specifically to the server-installed software. So I'm working on that. Any ideas?

Peace,

Pete Zaria.