Very slow when connect to a samba server throug the internet.

[fonso]

I have my SCO box Openserver 5.0.5 with the samba 2.2.5 running.
I can access from my remote Windows via Internet to the samba server, and mount the remote drivers like it is my local driver. It works, but it is very slow to work with it.

I need to run remote programs in my local machine windows, connected via internet from one remote SCO, who have the programs and databases.

Are they any other kind to do this ?. Or to do this more speedly ?.

I know in the Windows NT and 2000, they have the Terminal Server, and it works fine.
Are they any program to convert my SCO in one Server of Terminal Server clients ?.

I have seen one program called Citrix. How It works.?

I need help.
Thank you, and sorry about my english.

Fonso.

 

[John Lewis]

First, you need to consider your security issues.

You should not have your Samba server exposed to the internet. Ideally, Samba would not even be running on an interface that is connected to the internet. At the least, your firewall should be blocking ports 135-139. On that note, many ISPs have started blocking these ports across their networks, so you may find one day that it doesn't work any more.

Beyond that, I don't really understand what your situation is. With Samba involved, obviously you have some type of Windows database parked on a SCO box. If it is an Access database and you are using Access or an Access runtime on the remote end to manipulate the database, you will never get any kind of performance across the internet. Too much data has to pass. The 'perfect' solution to that problem would be to convert the database to a SQL database and run a SQL server on the SCO box.

Another option, as you mention would be to use a remote desktop type application (like terminal server). I'm a bit lost at that point, I don't really understand which platform you are dealing with at each end. If you are using Windows based software and the SCO box is just for file storage, terminal services may be the way to go.

If your app runs on Unix or your client machine runs Unix, VNC would do the trick. VNC clients and servers are available for both platforms. See

http://www.realvnc.com

. I generally prefer Tight VNC

http://www.tightvnc.com

, but I'm not sure if it will fly on SCO.

Either way, you don't want to pass the data across the raw internet or allow connections directly from the internet. I would look into a VPN of some sort.

A lot to digest there. If you need anything clarified or have additional questions, please provide a bit more information about your application. How is the data formatted, what program are you using to access the data, does it run on the unix box or a windows box, etc.

 

[fonso]

mhkwood , thank you four your time.

I understand your response.

My situation is the next :
I'm running one program in my SCO programmed in AcuCOBOL, and it has very windows machines localy connecteds via ethernet connecteds to the SCO with one telnet program.

Now I have migrated the program to the Windows and It can run in Windows and Unix sharing the databases.
In the local network I map the SCO hard drive shared with the samba, like a local windows drive.
(for example in my SCO the /u/program is shared in the Samba, and in the windows I can map the drive like my local F: unit).
Now I can run the program and I can access to the databases allowed in the SCO box, and it run well.

The question is whow I can do this with remote PC's in Windows connecteds to the internet ?.

Thank you.
Fonso.

 

[John Lewis]

Frankly, if the SCO version via telnet still works, that would probably be the most efficient way to deal with your remote clients. Telnet sessions require a lot less bandwidth than any kind of graphical interface. I would never do raw telnet across the internet, but SecureCRT with VShell (

http://www.vandyke.com/int/remote_access.html

) offers a secure connection and very good SCO emulation as well. Another option would be to use CRT over a VPN connection.

If you are stuck with the graphical interface, cheapest option would be VNC, a remote desktop application. I use TightVNC for Windows servers/clients (

http://www.tightvnc.com

), RealVNC for *nix (

http://www.realvnc.com

). Limitation there would be you can only have one remote connection per Windows server and no one can use the server as a workstation while you are using it as a server. If you need to run multiple clients from a single Windows box, you would need to set up a server version of Windows with terminal services.

If you have a graphical version for your SCO box, you could set it up to run X and attach multiple clients to it, subject to your licensing. You could also set up a Linux box to do the same without the licensing issue, but you would need to recompile your app to run on Linux. Haven't done Cobol since . . . well it's been a long time, so I am not familiar with compiler licensing, Linux availabilty, etc.

Security is similar with all of the 'remote desktop' solutions. The connection provides little or no security, so you will need to run the traffic over a secure connection, such as a VPN.

Lot to digest there, hope it's of some help.