FMP, Terminal Service and switching to mac

[cinolas]

Hi to all,

We are currently running a FMP database on a PC network in our main office.

Other branches connect to our database using Microsoft Terminal Service because it is quite a bit faster than connecting directly to our FMP Server.

We are now considering switching to Mac -)

So my question is :

Is there an equivalent to Terminal Service for the mac ? (I asked Apple but they didn't seem to know !)

If not, what is the fastest way to connect to a remote database trough the Internet ? (using Mac OS X)

Than you very much for your help

[Anatoli]

IMHO -- there is none. Terminal Services is one of the greatest things in Universe

I believe there is client on Mac for TS.

Or use client machine, running FM and for remote access Timbuktu or something like that.

[cinolas]

I have to say TS is pretty cool. But it remains a Microsoft product...

It's depressing, no-one at Apple even new of TS and when I explained what it does they said :"...and you can have multiple users using the same software on the same license !? and the software companies are ok with that ?"

It's too bad, I guess we're going to have to stick with PCs.

Thanks

[Ocean West]

I called Citrix and asked them if there is any solution for the mac.

They said in the not to distant future there will be other options as they are bulding soltuions for "other than Microsoft" I hope that means "OS X"

[Kurt Knippel]

Please remember that Citrix does not equal M$, nor are Terminal Services and Mac mutually exclusive. It is just that terminal services, whether from M$ or Citrix, are run on a Win2K server, that is all.

Everything in you organziation could be Mac, but all could be conbnecting via a Win2k Citrix server.

One of my old consulting clients was an all WinNT shop, every single workstation they had was running NT Workstation. Thier file and database servers ran WinNT Server.

What did thier internet, web, and e-mail servers run? Well, there was some Linux, a couple of Macs, a Sun or two and some other Unix rack systems. Guess what not a singe WindowsOS there. Why? Because for those tasks, those other OSs and hardware architectures ran the services better than WinNT and Pentuim systems.

My point? If Mac is best for the organization, then do it. If Citrix on Win2k is best for remote access then do it. The decision on what to use really have nothing to do with each other.

Now that said, how many remote users are you considering? For only a couple (say 10 or less) a dedicated CPU/Timbuktu setup may be more cost effective than the Citrix solution, more more users Citrix is more cost effective.

[Anatoli]

RE: It's depressing, no-one at Apple even new of TS and when I explained what it does they said :"...and you can have multiple users using the same software on the same license !? and the software companies are ok with that ?"

It's too bad, I guess we're going to have to stick with PCs.

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I guess not the same single license of FM. It will check for serial number. We are using the volume license of FM, which is different. So maybe Apple didn't know about TS, but FMI definitely yes.

For the second -- stick with the stuff what is working for you. Did you check with MS about Apple TS client software?

From MS site:

Remote Desktop Connection Client for Macintosh Now Available for Download

Remote Desktop Connection Client for Mac allows you to connect to a Windows-based computer and work with programs and files on that computer from your Macintosh computer. To use Remote Desktop Connection Client for Mac, you need network access and permissions to connect to a Windows-based computer running Terminal Services or Remote Desktop Services.