[AccessD] Citrix

Hi John,

One of my customers has my Access system on their Citrix server.  Citrix is
an application that is installed on a server.  It is designed to allow users
to run some or all their software on the server, while they are physically
somewhere else.  This turns their desktop PC into just a terminal for the
applications the use via Citrix.  

In my customer's case, the purpose of Citrix is to allow users who are not
connected to the LAN at their headquarters in Minneapolis to run my system
at a reasonable level of performance.  (As we all know, Access on a WAN
doesn't work.)  It works pretty well, with users at many locations in the
US, Mexico, and also Asia.  Also, when people are away from work with their
laptop, they can log into the company network with a VPN, then log into
Citrix, and then log into my system - and still get reasonable performance.


However, all the people who connect to the LAN log into my Access system
directly using separate FE's on their PC's - it's noticeable faster than
logging into Citrix.

Companies might also use a Citrix server for all PC's on their LAN so that
everyone's PC is essentially a terminal.  This can give the IT department a
high degree of control over app versions, preventing the installation of
personal apps, etc.

But why you would be given a PC which is actually a server with Citrix on it
for your personal use is beyond what I know.  I'd say take some of those
developers out to lunch and find out what's really going on!

Good Luck!
Dan

-----Original Message-----
From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
[mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of John W Colby
Sent: Thursday, January 24, 2013 7:37 AM
To: Access Developers discussion and problem solving
Subject: [AccessD] Citrix

I got a contract for IBM over in Research Triangle Park Durham NC. They
assigned me a desktop computer for now which I am given admin rights on.  It
run Windows XP Professional x32 and has 3 gigs of RAM.

Many of the developers install everything on their desktop and work from
there however the official mantra is that we are supposed to use a Citrix
machine provided to us.  I have never used Citrix before.  Assuming it would
also be Windows XP I checked this morning and imagine my surprise when it
claims to be Windows 2003 R2 X64 with 4 cores and 16 gigs RAM.

My question then is what does this really mean, i.e.how does Citrix work?
It is it an emulation of the real machine behind it?  Is the actual server a
quad core with 16 gigs running Server 2003 R2 X64? Or is it a virtual
machine with N cores and X gigs emulated?

In any case I do not have admin rights on that machine so every time I make
any change in Access which would go to the registry it holds the changes
until I log off Citrix and then the next time in things are back to the
original configuration.  Likewise I cannot install anything myself, and
getting anything installed is not a trivial task.  I like to use MZ-Tools
with Access, and I can install it local, but it is not on IBM's "approved
vendor list" so it will never be used on the Citrix machine.

Oh the joy.

--
John W. Colby

Reality is what refuses to go away
when you do not believe in it

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