Application Server ?

[kimble]

I have a question about application servers. Can any program installed on a server be run on a client via a networked drive? For instance say you own one copy of PhotoShop and install it on your server. Is there anything wrong with running it off a client? And what prevents you from running 50 copies of it if you had 50 clients?

This is why I ask:
I currently have a peer to peer network with 2 computers sharing a 5 licence copy of Quickbooks. Right now both machines have the software installed on them with one storing the database files. I am in the stages of switching over to a server client network. Will everything run fine if I install the software on the server, and then launch the program from both clients? OR should I keep the software on the clients with the database files on the server? And Lastly can I upgrade the clients software from the server when it comes time?

 

[gbiello]

This is a perfect applicaton for Terminal Servies. You would need to purchase TS CAL's and do some background reading and configuration, but that is what it's for. Be careful doing this with certain apps, for instance I believe both Quickbooks, and Photoshop are resource/memory intensive so you would need a hefty server. For even better performance/configurability, look into Citrix.

To actually answer your question, I would say, "Maybe". It depends on the application.

 

[chikn]

Simple answer is move QB database file to server and open database from clients. No good practice to launch executables over a network that require specific files (such as dlls )because all your doing is executing over the lan with no benefit to doing so. And if you know some VB scripting you can do just about anything you want from the server.