XPost: microsoft.public.windows.terminal_services   
   From: mike-newsgroup@-DELETETHISPART-.upcraft.com   
      
   Vince wrote:   
   > Hello,   
   >    
   > I am a catch-all IT consultant in Southern California with very little   
   > practical VPN experience (but learning quickly).  I am therefore   
   > seeking guidance and affirmation from the gurus in this forum, if you   
   > would be so kind.   
   >    
   > I have a client with a small medical practice who would like to   
   > consolidate his patient data into one location.  He has 3 sites (2   
   > medical offices, 1 billing office), each with their own self-contained   
   > instances of 2 core DB apps.  Each site has their own LAN, workgroup,   
   > router, and DSL Service of varying speeds/equipment.   The medical   
   > offices have 9 total users (4 and 5, respectively), while the billing   
   > office has only 3.  All client PCs have either XP Pro SP2 or XP Home   
   > SP2. There are no "servers", only workstations hosting the DB data over   
   > standard file sharing.   
   >    
   > Office growth has reached a plateau; there is no anticipated user   
   > increase for the forseeable future.  Money is always a factor, but I   
   > have been told that special consideration can be made for an   
   > "appropriate" price/performance solution. The main goal is to   
   > consolidate the patient data from all 3 sites into 1 central location   
   > so that all users are viewing the same tables.  The DB app support   
   > techs will perform the data merges, I need to design and implement the   
   > infrastructure.   
   >    
   > My proposal:   
   > - 12 total users (5,4,2)   
   > - the 5 user site becomes the "HQ"   
   > - New Windows 2003 Domain Controller at HQ site will host the   
   > consolidated DB Data and MS License server   
   > - New Windows 2003 Terminal Server at HQ site will host the 2 DB apps   
   > - Standardize all 3 sites to highest ADSL Service w/static IP   
   > addressing   
   > (SBC Yahoo!® DSL Pro-S -   
   > Speed: 1.5-3.0Mbps downstream/384-512Kbps upstream   
   > IP Address: 5 Static   
   > Price: $74.99/mo)   
   > - Standardize all 3 sites to same make/model of VPN router   
   > - Establish tunnels into the HQ site from the 2 other sites (non-mesh)   
   > - All clients will access the 2 DB apps on the Terminal Server at HQ   
   > Site via RDP   
   >    
   > VPN Questions:   
   >    
   > 1) After reading posts here and elsewhere, I am inclined to go with 3   
   > Netopia VPN Routers, either 3386-ENT or 3387WG-ENT (the doctors have   
   > wireless laptops).  Will this hardware be sufficient to provide a   
   > reliable connection between the sites?  Anyone have any other   
   > recommendations?   
   >    
   > 2) Will this ISP package be sufficient or will we need something   
   > beefier (SDSL,T1, etc)?   
   >    
   > General Questions:   
   >    
   > 3) As far as the beefiness of the servers, I am inclined to go heavier   
   > on the Terminal server (2P, 2G RAM) than on the DC (1P 1G RAM), given   
   > their required tasks.  Am I making the correct assumptions?   
   >    
   > 4) Are there any "gotchas" I need to keep in mind?  Is there a better   
   > arrangement for this type of situation?   
   >    
   > Any insight would be greatly appreciated.   
   >    
   > Thanks,   
   >    
   > -Vince   
   >    
      
   Looks fine.  The connection speeds should be fine for terminal services    
   and the number of users.  If you wanted a bit more sophistication you    
   could consider Citrix Presentation server on top of plain terminal    
   services but there is not likely any critical reason why you would need    
   to use Citrix PS.   
      
   Gotchas that you need to consider are communication backup in case the    
   ADSL links go down.  For some people that simply means delaying data    
   entry until it's back online, for others that may mean having some    
   modems available to do an ad hoc dial-in on either a dedicated phone    
   line or by stealing a line from a fax machine somewhere when required.    
   I'm guessing that SBC doesn't exactly run to the rescue as soon as you    
   call them with a problem so you need to expect that in a bad case you    
   could be down for over a week.   
      
      
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   Mike Drechsler (mike-newsgroup@-deletethispart-.upcraft.com)   
      
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