When making a connection via DUN/RAS, you are then using a 100% Microsoft compatible network, which has only one limitation compared to an Ethernet-Network: “Bandwidth !”
A modem with 28.800 (or even an ISDN-line with 64 K/128K) is a lot slower than an Ethernet-network. It is fine for transfer of small files, but if you plan run run programs with data-access via the DUN-network, have first a look at this:
When you run a program, there is first the data-transfer to get the program (the EXE-file and all required DLL’s) loaded from the harddisk into the memory.
Once the program is running, input is usually made via a keyboard and/or mouse, additional data is read/written from/to the harddisk, and the program displays a window with the results of its activity on the screen.
Running this on a standalone system or when connected to an Ethernet network, you are used to fast execution.
However, if you are running via a DUN connection, you need to watch out the amount of data to be transferred via the slow Modem-connection:
– is the program (EXE and DLLs) on your local disk?
– where is the data located and how much data is required to be transferred ?
Example: do NOT try to load any part of “MS Office” via a DUN-connection and do NOT try to open a MS-Access MDB-database via a DUN-connection, unless you are willing to wait for a long,long, long time…….
But there is a solution: Remote Control Programs !
Most such Remote Control programs (like “pcANYWHERE from Symantec, which is offering a 30-day evaluation download on http://www.symantec.com of “pcAnyWhere32” rel.8.0 as a 8.4 Mbyte file) offer the possibility to connect via modem or to be used via a network-connection, even via a DUN-connection.
You establish a connection from your Client-system (which is running pcAnywhere Client) to the Server system (which is running pcAnyWhere Host).
The content of the screen of the Host-system is displayed in the pcAnyWhere Client window: all keyboard input and mouse-movement/actions are transferred via the modem to the host and executed, allowing now to start up applications (even heavy ones like MS-Acccess), these application load fast from their own harddisk or their own fast local network-connection, have fast data-access and display the result on the screen of the Server/Host. The content of the screen is then “mirrored” by pcAnyWhere onto the screen of the Client-system.
There are some delays in the display on the Client, but this is a trade-off for being able to access “heavy” applications via DUN.
Using the 30-day evaluation copy, you can test yourself this setup:
pcAnyWhere Host: Setup/Properties for usage via DUN using IPX:
In this example, both the Dial-Up networking Server (RAS) and the pcAnyWhere Host are waiting for an incoming connection:
On the Client, the setup of pcAnyWhere is very similar: selecting in the properties of the “Remote Control” Network-connection the IPX-protocol:
In this example, I do NOT make a dedicated pcAnyWhere Modem-connection, but connect via standard Dialup-Networking connection to my RAS-host (my Office P133). I am able to browse the network (see “Network Neighborhood”), but then I can use the pcAnyWhere Client to get a window displaying the screen of the Office system, allowing me now to start up any application, even processing large amounts of data (in the example below, the screen o the Server/Host confirms the dial-in connection).
So, it is your choice:
– for small amounts of data to be transferred, DUN is fine, program can be run on the client displaying their result live, while you have to wait for any ongoing data-transfer.
– for large amounts of data to be processed, use either only a Remote-Control software or a Remote-Control software in combination with DUN, giving you now FAST access to the data, while you have to wait for the window to be “repainted”/mirrored from the Host to the Client.
When connecting to an NT-system (NT workstation or NT server), pcAnyWhere fully supports
the NT-security system.
