This page provides information to help you select the way 
that NetCFax is installed to maximize it's use on your network

BACKGROUND

Starting with the introduction of Windows XP Pro, the concept of Windows Terminal Services (WTS) first appeared.  Under XP Pro this really only meant the ability to use the "Fast Task Switching" (FTS) feature, but you can also connect to the XP machine remotely using a Remote Desktop Session (RDP session), but to be honest that functionality is fairly limited under XP Pro.

Once the Windows "Server" family started to appear, the WTS system started to provide very much better multiple RDP Session support, allowing (almost) any networked PC to run the Remote Desktop client on their own PC and to then connect to the Windows 2000 or 2003 server under an RDP Session.

In case you do not understand what all these terms mean, we will try to explain them in simple  terms :

The Fast Task Switching feature under XP Pro allows multiple different Windows Login Accounts (WLA's) to be "active" at one and the same time.  To do this, you have to use "Switch Users" option. When you do this, ALL OF THE PROGRAMS THAT YOU LEAVE RUNNING IN YOUR CURRENT LOGIN ACCOUNT CONTINUE TO RUN !

Under RDP Sessions it is a similar situation, except that you can physically close an RDP session, but when you log back in again, even from a different machine, all of the programs you left running are still there, and still running in the session.

The other and perhaps most important feature of these environments you need to understand is that all (FTS or RDP) sessions are in fact running the SAME SINGLE INSTALLATION OF EACH APPLICATION OR PROGRAM, AND THIS IS THE ONE THAT IS INSTALLED ON THE SERVER MACHINE THAT IS PROVIDING YOUR SESSION.  You are not actually running the software on your Pc, as it is actually being run on the server by everyone, and all you see on your session "console" is the screen sent to you by the server machine.

In other words, and if you are old enough to remember such mainframe and mini computers as IBM 3270 and Vax systems, these provided a very similar environment, but the data we saw on our "dumb terminals" was standard text , usually in 80 x 24 format (remember it was mostly green or white text on a black background).  So all of this new session support is in reality a very similar situation, except we now we get rich GUI screens sent back to us instead of just a few lines of text.  Our PC's are still only acting in the same way - as "Dumb Terminals"

CONFUSED YET ?

We understand that too, as we were also totally confused by it all when we came to have to provide support in NetCFax for all these different environments.

So, lets try to look at the different ways we can perhaps take advantage of all this new Windows "technology".  
            
DON'T FORGET that to install most software, and this includes NetCFax, on NT based systems, you MUST use a windows login account that has full administrator rights.

1 - STANDARD NETWORK
The defacto network scenario is of course you are just running normal PC's , mostly running XP or similar, and only ever have one person using one PC at any one time.
            
In this case, the choice is simple, install the fax server on any PC that has one or modems installed (and preferably tested and working) and of course a telephone line for the modems.
          
Then install a Fax client on EACH one of the networked PC's that you want to provide fax capabilities to. 

2 - XP PRO RUNNING FAST TASK SWITCHING AS THE FAX SERVER MACHINE
This is becoming quite a common network topography for smaller networks, with the machine running XP Pro with FTS enabled acting as a "server" for various applications, as well as providing FTS sessions on the computer itself.
            
In this case, the choice may be a little more complex.
         
Firstly, you can of course take the same scenario as in the first option above.

But, if you want to take advantage of the FTS system on XP, you can still install the fax server on any PC that has one or modems installed (and preferably tested and working) and of course a telephone line for the modems.
            
That fax server machine may or may not be the XP Pro machine - it really doesn't matter.
            
For the fax client, however, it is slightly different.
            
For all networked PC's that run Windows 98, or ME or perhaps Windows 2000 Pro, you will probably just install a fax client on each of them. 
            
However, on the XP machine that is providing multiple login accounts via FTS, you only need to install one fax client on that machine.  Once it has been installed, all of the windows accounts available on that XP Pro machine will be able to run their own "copy" of the fax clients, even though in fact they are all running exactly the same single installation of the system.
            
Wherever the fax server has been installed, it will still be accessible to all the fax clients.
            
Also, by using FTS, you can use FTS to "switch" users on the XP machine and they can leave their own fax client logged in to the fax server perfectly happily. It will still receive notifications from the server etc, and will be there once you log back in to that windows account.

3 - INSTALLING ON A WINDOWS 2000/2003 SERVERS (Domain controllers or not) THAT PROVIDE RDP SESSIONS.
            
This is possibly the most complex, or even the easiest possible environment, depending on your networking decisions.
            
Unfortunately, you cannot install both the fax server and a fax client on the Windows Server directly.  However either one can be installed and run on the machine, or run in an RDP session. If you install the Fax Client on a Windows Server, it allows all networked PC's to access and run the fax client that is available there via their own RDP sessions.  In this case you must install the Fax Server on a different machine.
            
This means that all of the RDP sessions will be able to run their own "copy" of the fax client, even though in fact they are all running exactly the same single installation of the fax client on that machine.
            
Wherever the fax server has been installed, it will still be accessible to all the fax clients.
            
The more COMPLEX approach is to still install and run the fax server on the Windows Server (or of course elsewhere if you wish), but to (also) install fax clients on each individual PC.  Quite obviously this will reduce the processing load on the Windows Server, as it will no longer be running as many RDP sessions that are running the fax client.

WE HOPE THIS INFORMATION HAS BEEN HELPFUL ?

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