Ken, I have been very involved with web based development under VFP. In order to make the transition to online I have used the webbrowser control within the VFP application so it doesn't matter whether the user is local or online, they get the same interface. I am not complete with this transition though, and that is why I need the hosting. Cost is where the rubber hits the road for this approach. To have more than 2 users on an RDP session you need the CALs and they get expensive. Online apps you don't need them, in addition you require less memory as a lot of the UI processing is pushed out to the client. Given the power of Just In Time compiling of Javascript on the client side, the user interfaces are getting very powerful. Check out http://d3js.org/
Anyway thanks for the help. On Thu, Sep 11, 2014 at 12:39 PM, [email protected] <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Paul, > > Sorry I did not address that question. We have not tried to print or use any > resources other than network \\tsclient type facilities. I, like you, > understand that can be done, however, I am waiting for others on this list > to chime in. Our bookkeeper now scans client checks to our bank locally. We > would like to do that using a cloud server if possible. That would involve > installing a USB check scanner. Let me know what you find and any special > changes you had to make. > > We are happy to see this discussion as it is an obvious way for VFP > developers to move all their many VFP applications to the web and allow > their clients to access using desktops, laptops and probably tablets > anywhere in the world without the limitations of the web development tools > (speaking from my own research). VFP local/desktop applications are far more > powerful than anything I have seen online (speaking from my own research). > One limiting problem (if it is a problem) that we have in the US is that our > application has confidential patient information protected by the US HIPAA > federal law. We need to find a way to deal with that. I think that using RDP > into a cloud server may be a way to accomplish that. > > Note that we have not used Hostwinds for a long time (less than 1 year). We > would appreciate any feedback you give. We have used AccuWebHosting for more > than 2 years and InfinitelyVirtual about 5 years. Hostwinds seems to have > the best pricing for Win2008/12 and that is obviously why we are trying > them. I do not see a way to have more than 2 users (Administrative and one > data entry person) online simultaneously. There are ways to install more CAL > license(s) on their server but we have not tried them. InfinitelyVirtual > makes it easy and straightforward to have as many users and memory and > storage as you want but they are much too expensive and we cannot > sell/recommend them to clients. We are searching for a less expensive > alternative. If we could find a reliable, reasonably priced alternative, we > could probably send at least a hundred potential users to them, maybe a lot > more in the future. I think that working online from a laptop and a desktop > computer is the future of healthcare billing/eRx/EHR/etc and there are > hundreds of thousands of potential users in the US. The question is pricing. > The technology is already here today and we have proved that. > > > > > On 9/10/2014 6:43 PM, Paul Hemans wrote: >> >> Thanks for all the good info. Going to give hostwinds.com a go today. >> I am thinking of using dropbox or Google drive to replicate updates >> between a local site and the hosted session. So the hosted one is an >> emergency site. >> >> What do you do for printing? I am thinking of using Google cloud >> print. I have a lot of problems with printing through RDP though I >> understand 2008 has gotten better at that. >> >> On Thu, Sep 11, 2014 at 7:36 AM, [email protected] >> <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> You have to first create your RDP the usual way. It is pretty simple >>> after >>> you get the RDP client on your workstation. I believe there are different >>> versions. Google mstsc.exe The shortcut I gave was done on Win7. After >>> you >>> have the RDP access working, you create the shortcut I described to be >>> able >>> to log in automatically without seeing the RDP client window displayed. >>> If >>> you only have one monitor, don't use the /span If you don't have >>> experience >>> using RDP to access a server, I would recommend that you experiment with >>> that. For me it was trial and error but that was years ago and I forget >>> the >>> details. I know once it worked, it seemed that it was obvious. I think >>> you >>> can RDP into Win7 but I have not tried that. >>> >>> I have not tried this, but I understand there is an RDP client for the >>> Chromebook and almost everything else, even Mac. I have a Samsung Note3. >>> I >>> got an android RDP client for it and it works. I just did that as a test >>> to >>> see if it was possible. Our application is for bookkeeping so I can't >>> imagine doing much without a real keyboard. >>> >>> You can also use VNC to access a server and run VFP that way. I have done >>> that. Problem is that it is single user (as far as I know). Using RDP you >>> can have many users running a single VFP program as you want as long as >>> it >>> works correctly on a standard Ethernet network. >>> >>> We thought about offering this as a service to our company's clients. >>> Trouble is that our clients are all doing healthcare billing and we have >>> very few clients who could maintain this. We are not willing to that >>> support >>> on at this time. We do have clients who have local hardware support. They >>> have replaced an in-house Win20xx server with a cloud server. We do not >>> get >>> involved so I don't know details. We don't hear any complaints so I >>> assume >>> it works well. I know some clients have more than 10 simultaneous users >>> and >>> think the speed it much better than on Ethernet. >>> >>> For our company it works so well that we would never think of running our >>> servers in-house again. The 3 companies that I mentioned are companies >>> that >>> we use for our development and other things. We have offices in 3 states >>> from coast to coast and we all access the same programs successfully with >>> few issues. This is for Ed: We use Rackspace to host our MS Exchange. I >>> believe they also have Win20xx servers with RDP access available, but we >>> have not used them. >>> >>> >>> >>> On 9/10/2014 1:42 PM, Sytze de Boer wrote: >>>> >>>> Kam, this sounds all very encouraging. >>>> >>>> I am curious about how to create a short cut with >>>> C:\Windows\System32\mstsc.exe /span >>>> "C:\Users\RDP\TS109_Administrator.rdp" >>>> >>>> And specifically, how do you get on for PRINTING ? >>>> >>>> >>>> On Thu, Sep 11, 2014 at 3:08 AM, [email protected] >>>> <[email protected]> >>>> wrote: >>>> >>>>> We only use their VPS with access by RDP. Note that this is a Windows >>>>> 2008/12 server (your choice - unfortunately Win2003 is no longer >>>>> available) >>>>> so the VFP installation is the same as installing on a local >>>>> workstation. >>>>> We install FileZilla on the 2008/12 server so we can get things on and >>>>> off >>>>> the server easily. Just FTP your install exe to the server and then >>>>> execute >>>>> it as you would on a local workstation. >>>>> >>>>> All 3 of these are the same except for pricing, storage, memory, etc. >>>>> You >>>>> choose what works best for you. For 2 users on 2008/12 you should have >>>>> a >>>>> minimum of 2 gb memory (just my opinion). We find that the amount of >>>>> memory >>>>> you have mainly affects performance. If you google 'remote desktop >>>>> hosting' >>>>> you will get many hits. Be sure to use it for at least a couple of >>>>> weeks >>>>> before committing to production. We have tried several in the past 6 >>>>> months >>>>> that failed and had to reinstall the OS. The 'support' did not have any >>>>> idea what happened. We lost all our data, programs, etc. Of course we >>>>> always have a local complete backup at least every evening or after any >>>>> major changes. We use Webfaction (recommended on this list long ago). >>>>> This >>>>> is a very low cost, reliable Linux web host we have used for at least 6 >>>>> years. We backup our terminal servers onto webfaction. The speed is up >>>>> to >>>>> 10mb/second so it does not take long. Then we have a local workstation >>>>> with >>>>> over 30TB storage and use SyncBackSE scheduled backup from Webfaction >>>>> to >>>>> local storage and keep up to one years daily backup. >>>>> >>>>> Our opinion is that there are some amateurs out there offering services >>>>> that have no idea what they are doing. >>>>> >>>>> We prefer to program with 2 monitors - one for the running program and >>>>> one >>>>> for the VFP debugger. Here is a trick to use with Win2008/12. When you >>>>> access by RDP use a shortcut target with something like this: >>>>> >>>>> C:\Windows\System32\mstsc.exe /span >>>>> "C:\Users\RDP\TS109_Administrator.rdp" >>>>> >>>>> Note the '/span' this will cause your display to use both monitors. >>>>> Very >>>>> nice. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> On 9/9/2014 7:52 PM, Sytze de Boer wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> Please help me and guide me >>>>>> >>>>>> Are you saying there is a Fox app you have developed on a drive with >>>>>> Hostwinds >>>>>> >>>>>> What would you say to me if I said I want to do something like this >>>>>> where >>>>>> my App may be little "backward" and consists of basically an EXE, 200 >>>>>> dbf/cdx/fpt files and 200 frx/frt files >>>>>> >>>>>> Hostwind suggest I should choose their vps option >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> >>>>>> On Wed, Sep 10, 2014 at 3:05 AM, [email protected] < >>>>>> [email protected]> >>>>>> wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>> We currently are running our VFP9 SP2 application on servers at: >>>>>>> >>>>>>> AccuWebHosting.com, hostwinds.com, InfinitelyVirtual.com. >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> >>>>>>> On 9/9/2014 5:58 AM, Paul Hemans wrote: >>>>>>> >>>>>>> I currently run my own servers and have a number of clients >>>>>>> connecting >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> via RDP sessions. I need off-site redundancy, can anyone recommend a >>>>>>>> site that runs cheap 2003 - 2008 server systems that give you access >>>>>>>> to setting up windows services, IIS, RDP sessions and the like. >>>>>>>> >>>>>>>> Thanks. >>>>>>>> [excessive quoting removed by server] _______________________________________________ Post Messages to: [email protected] Subscription Maintenance: http://mail.leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profox OT-free version of this list: http://mail.leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profoxtech Searchable Archive: http://leafe.com/archives/search/profox This message: http://leafe.com/archives/byMID/profox/cakt3opexukwn+2eussp7w+odqus23hvu9kw8rs4j982seev...@mail.gmail.com ** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are the opinions of the author, and do not constitute legal or medical advice. This statement is added to the messages for those lawyers who are too stupid to see the obvious.
