Using MainBoss with Citrix and Microsoft Terminal Server

Citrix and Microsoft Terminal Server are two software packages that offer similar capabilities. They let you connect your computer securely to another Windows computer over the Internet. You then can work on the remote computer as if you were logged in directly to it.

For example, suppose you're in Chicago and you use either software package to connect to a computer in New York. What you see on your computer screen is what you'd see if you were actually in New York using the computer directly. When you execute a program, the program runs on the New York machine; your own computer is only a conduit to the New York one.

In technical terms, the Chicago computer is called a thin client. It does almost nothing except send keyboard input to New York and display New York's output on the Chicago monitor screen. New York does all the significant work.

(There is an alternative method of operating, called thick client, where the Chicago computer does most of the work. In this version, the New York computer holds the MainBoss databases, and the Chicago computer has a simple data connection to New York. The problem with this option is that if the connection is broken in the middle of an operation, the database might end up "locked"—frozen because it's waiting for the Chicago computer to answer. With the thin client approach, this doesn't happen; the MainBoss program is executing on the same computer where the database is stored, so it can always access the database cleanly. With thin client, if the Chicago-New York connection is broken, the MainBoss program in New York simply thinks that the Chicago user quit normally.)

A number of MainBoss users can make use of Citrix or Microsoft Terminal Server. Typically, they put MainBoss software and one or more MainBoss databases on a single computer. Maintenance personnel connect to the central computer and use MainBoss from wherever they are.

So suppose that Company X keeps all its MainBoss software and databases on a computer in New York. Anyone with an Internet connection and the appropriate Citrix or Microsoft software could login to the New York computer. Most users will do this simply by clicking an icon on their desktops. This will automatically make the connection; the users will then have to enter a valid user name and password for the New York computer. Once they're logged in to the computer, they can start MainBoss from a desktop icon or the usual Windows Programs menu. They could even be set up so that MainBoss starts as soon as they login, connecting to whatever MainBoss database is appropriate.

In order for this to work, users need a high-speed (broadband) Internet connection. Normal dial-up isn't fast enough for either Citrix or Microsoft Terminal Server to be used effectively.

Performance

One weakness of the set-up we've just described is that you may have a lot of users all running MainBoss simultaneously on the same central system. If you have enough people trying to work at the same time, performance may slow down.

One solution is to avoid too many MainBoss databases on a single machine. For example, suppose that Company X uses their New York computer to hold MainBoss databases for New York, Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, and so on. At some point (depending on the number of simultaneous users and the speed of the New York computer), a single computer may not have the power to handle the load. In this case, the New York office might buy a second computer and divide the databases between the two. This will obviously provide significant performance improvements.

Citrix vs. Microsoft

From the point of view of using MainBoss, there's no practical difference between Citrix and Microsoft Terminal Server. Both are designed to do the same thing. Choosing between the two therefore depends on price and on your IT department's familiarity with one or the other.