Remote desktop vs. browser based web apps. (3 Viewers)

[BlueSpruce]

I have a prospective user who thinks RDP is just as slow, or slower, than browser based remote access applications, such as TeamViewer, and LogMeIn. I explained that RDP is generally faster than those web based apps, unless there's an issue with the internet connection. RDP sends much less data to render a screen than a web browser. The beauty of RDP is that if you loose the connection, the screen will be exactlty were you were left off whe you re-connect and nothing will be corrupted. I will setup an RDP dog and pony demo so the prospect can judge for himself.

The prospect also wants remote users to locally use devices to capture and save images, scan barcodes, and print labels. I explained that web based apps have a very hard time accessing hardware devices, such as cameras, scanners, and the local file system because web apps are stateless and unbound. Hardware is generally isolated in browser based applications for security reasons. A web browser, for example, cannot automatically grab files from your computer and upload them, unless a user manually selects file(s) to upload, or a user installs a dangerous addin on the browser.

The prospective user also thinks standard consumer PC's can be used as web servers. Desktop Windows editions only allows a max of 10 external connections. A server OS, such as Windows Server, and several Linux flavors don't have that limitation. Desktop PC's don't run IIS, Apache, or nginx web servers. IIS tends to be pre-installed with Windows Server. Another is support for Terminal services (the remote virtual desktop VM system). This can’t run on a regular PC. The TS feature allows 15 users on the road using the server remote and each user gets their “own” vitual desktop, so terminal services includes a complete remote solution, one that handles multiple users at the same time.

Are my statements accurate?... Can you add anything I may have left out?... Thanks!

 

[xavier.batlle]

The TS feature allows 15 users on the road using the server ...

If TS stands for Terminal Server, why only 15 users? The number of users depen on the number of licenses you buy.

 

[GPGeorge]

"The prospect also wants remote users to use portable devices to capture and save images, scan barcodes, and print labels..." PowerApps does that well.

See the videos in this series on YouTube, such as this one on scanning barcodes for Northwind Developer.

I also take photos of book covers and upload them to Azure Blob Storage using a PowerApps app.

Printing labels. Not so much.

 

[BlueSpruce]

If TS stands for Terminal Server, why only 15 users? The number of users depen on the number of licenses you buy.

That's correct. The prospect wants to start out with 15 users. I am leaning towards proposing TS RemoteApp so the Access FE's transparently appear and behave as if they're locally installed on each user's remote workstation. That way they can also leverage devices that are connected to their workstations.

 

[BlueSpruce]

"The prospect also wants remote users to use portable devices to capture and save images, scan barcodes, and print labels..." PowerApps does that well.

See the videos in this series on YouTube, such as this one on scanning barcodes for Northwind Developer.

I also take photos of book covers and upload them to Azure Blob Storage using a PowerApps app.

Printing labels. Not so much.

Thanks, but I will stick with what's already proven to work and are mature products. The prospect already has a mature Access app and using RDP eliminates the need to rewrite or modify his existing Access app.

 

[Edgar_]

I don't know what's the deal with so many people here claiming web = slow, it's not 1995. No idea what sort of web app you've made that was slow, but they are not inherently slow.

 

[BlueSpruce]

I don't know what's the deal with so many people here claiming web = slow, it's not 1995. No idea what sort of web app you've made that was slow, but they are not inherently slow.

Microsoft's RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol) is faster than browser based remote desktop apps, like TeamViewer, RemotePC, AnyDesk, for accessing and controlling a remote computer.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

The only time an RDP is slow is if you are putting too much through it - i.e. the exact problem that every OTHER network connection has. BUT if you have a bunch of people banging away via RDP such that 15 users are on the system at once, that system will be 15 times slower than a single-user RDP setup. Just remember that when comparing apples to apples, the NUMBER of apples counts for something.

 

[BlueSpruce]

The only time an RDP is slow is if you are putting too much through it - i.e. the exact problem that every OTHER network connection has. BUT if you have a bunch of people banging away via RDP such that 15 users are on the system at once, that system will be 15 times slower than a single-user RDP setup. Just remember that when comparing apples to apples, the NUMBER of apples counts for something.

True, but a decently configured server running 15 concurrent TS sessions will provide good performance.

 

[Uncle Gizmo]

I'm commenting to express my interest and so that I get further messages...

 

[gemma-the-husky]

@BlueSpruce
I imagine this is the sort of thing that if you don't know the answer might take a lot of time and resources testing to find out.