Computer networking

Computer networking

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I work from two offices and also carry out work from home.

I would like to be able to network the computers and in particular have only one diary (outlook?)which can be accessed from all locations.

I would like to be able to be able to access client postings files from the other office (both offices run IRIS).

Does anyone have any experience of this working successfully?
Rob

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By c.szpak
27th May 2004 16:12

Networking
Have a look at www.gotomypc.com. I've been using it for a year now and it has been excellent.

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By AnonymousUser
24th May 2004 10:39

Remote access to office applications
We use the web interface for Outlook, which works fine, allowing you to access your office e-mail and diary through a web browser. Obviously this needs setting up by a network engineer, ideally.

If you have a general requirement for accessing your office applications remotely, many of them won't supply you with handy web interfaces, so your best bet is Citrix or Terminal Server. This can give you a 'seamless' way to run your office applications through a web connection. I've seen it running very successfully.

It does cost, of course, and you should definitely get a Citrix expert to install it...

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By AnonymousUser
24th May 2004 16:43

Terminal Services solution
The best solution IMHO would be Microsoft Terminal Services. Its already built in to Windows XP Pro. If you have this on the 3 pcs then you're laughing.
Decide which one will be the "server". Preferably the most powerful pc with a decent speed internet connection.
With a little bit of messing around with your firewall you'll be able to run terminal sessions form the remote pcs to this one. The benefit of this is centralised resources and low cost. (Its free in XP Pro!). Terminal Services works well over 56k dial-up but best over broadband. The only info travelling across the connection is mouse/kbd movements and screen refresh info so its very light on the link.

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Mark
By MarkRyan
27th May 2004 16:55

A few more ideas...
Outlook Web access is great, providing you have the kit to run it on (hardware and communications)

If you have a laptop, PDA or mobile phone, simply carry it around with you and treat it as the master diary.

You can synchronise your "office 1" diary with the device and carry it about with you.
When you get to "office 2" simply synchronise there. Benefit of this approach is that you don't have to boot up a computer to check your diary. Very handy if you're travelling.

On the mater of Iris - it's very "thick" Don't even try to run it down anything but the very fastest internet connection.
If you really want to use Iris, copy the files onto your laptop before you leave.
(No PDA or mobile phone option here.)

Alternatively, the only sensible option is Terminal Services or Citrix.

If you want a chat, just drop me a line

Mark Ryan
[email protected]


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By neileg
24th May 2004 10:01

You can, but you might decide not to!
What you are suggesting is perfectly possible, but it may turn out to be too expensive or complicated to make it worthwhile for one user.

The main problem will be security. Any point that allows you to dial in to the network is a weakness, and you are going to need good quality advice to ensure that you have this protected.

I think you will have a problem syncronising your diary, if you are running three copies of Outlook. I have never used Outlook's diary, so I can't comment on its features. However, I think with any diary system to be useful, you really must have only one master record. You may be able to download a copy to your laptop, but any diary entries or amendments will need to be done in the master version.

To access client files in Iris, you are going to need to run the Iris client on your laptop. You may be able to do this via dial up networking. If not, you may be able to use something like PC Anywhere to capture a PC on the office network, and control it from your laptop. The sledgehammer solution would be to use Terminal Server or the Citrix equivalent to allow you to run programs on the server, but see the results on your laptop.

Some of what you want will be possible via an internet connection, but I am sceptical about running Iris this way.

Are your two offices already connected together? This would be a good start.

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By sheila t
29th May 2004 07:48

Portable hard drive
I also work from different locations but rather than use any form of internet/ network solution to access files I use a portable hard-disk that I carry with me - much smaller to carry than a lap-top but I have all the same files available whereever I am.

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By tomsk100
28th May 2004 10:10

Working remotely
Hi Rob,
We here at Bevan & Buckland Accountants have been using Iris, Outlook and all our Office applications remotely for some time now.
We use this system across a number of offices, on the road and from home.
We use Terminal Services (Now called Remote Desktop in Windows Server 2003) - Outlook Web Access and also Iris 'Laptop licensing' so we can take a clients data out on the road with us.

Drop me a line if you want any advice.

Ian
[email protected]

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By User deleted
27th May 2004 21:36

try gotomypc
if you can access your computers via the internet then try GoToMyPC

http://www.gotomypc.com/

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