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The background
Surprisingly, many people still
ask us this question, especially when we ask them if they want to
pay the extra charge to include the optional Windows Service
plug-in for the NetCFax Server in the registration for their new
system.
What is a Windows Service
and do I really need it ?
In reality, it's very simple.
Whenever any
program/application runs as a
Windows Service, it is usually not visible on the desktop.
In fact it is running perfectly normally, but in a different and non
visible "Winstation". You can view a list of all these
Services at any time by using the Widows Services applet program,
which also allows you to stop any service, start it or even disable
them if you wish to do so.
Quite reasonably the
functionality provided by many of the applications today are considered
to be 'critical' in nature, meaning that they are always needed (and even
expected) to be running whenever that machine is itself running.
However, if an application can only run as a normal desktop
application, then to start it after Windows is restarted for
whatever reason, SOMEONE HAS TO LOG IN to the machine and then start
each program they want to have running manually. Yes,
we all mostly realize that use of the Windows "startup"
group can at least have them start automatically, or even use of
the Windows Registry "Run" tree can do the same.
However, even to use these, SOMEONE has to either physically log
in to the machine, or use some form or remote access system such
as Remote Desktop Sessions to Windows Servers, or VPN connections
etc to be able to do so. So, what happens if a power outage or
other disaster occurs in the middle of the night, when nobody is
in your offices.
Simple answer really, none of the
required "critical" applications will be running because
they are desktop type programs, and cannot restart themselves even
though the machine itself may have restarted automatically and
Windows is again running.
This facility to run as a Service also overcomes the
all too familiar problem (for most of us) of Windows itself
crashing out for no apparent reason, as of course, providing they
are configured to do so, the Windows
Services are all started automatically whenever Windows is
restarted, without any end user action being required. As far as
the NetCFax server is concerned, this ensures
that your fax system is always available as long as the machine it
is installed on is running.
We have been asked many times if we could
produce a version of the NetCFax Fax Server that can be run as a
Windows Service to avoid having to log in to the machine and start
it manually.
With the release of NetCFax Pro v3.15
& PRO+ v3.60 (December 31, 2006) you can now do so. (Not
available in the entry level v2.7 systems)
We have developed a special system that
not only allows you to install and run the Fax Server as a Windows
Service, but the same executable program can still be run as
standard Desktop application as well.
If you wish to take advantage of this
new system, please note that there is an additional charge for the
special plug-in that is required to activate it, but
this only a 15% surcharge based on your current product license
cost.
Implementation
We provide a special "Service
Controller" that lets you install and uninstall the fax
server as a Windows Service, and Start & Stop the service etc,
but this also lets you switch between running as a Service and as
a Desktop Application whenever required.
Running the NetCFax Server as a Windows
Service does of course provide several benefits as discussed
previously, but there are also some drawbacks.
As a Service, the NetCFax Server is of
course started automatically (if you selected that option) when
Windows itself starts. This means that you do not have to log into
the machine and run it manually.
It can be run under the standard LOCAL
SYSTEM ACCOUNT (the default setting), or under any specified Windows login account
(These must have full Windows administrator rights)
If under the LOCAL SYSTEM ACCOUNT, it can
be configured to interact with the desktop, but Windows does not
allow this if it is running under a specified account.
Also, Under Windows 2003 server (and
possibly others) these Windows Server operating system seem to
have a rather nasty bug in their support for interactive services that means that even though you have it
configured to interact with the desktop, The Fax Server still never
appears. It does however interact correctly as expected, on
the Windows XP
platforms.
The final issue concerns printing.
As you probably know, the NetCFax server is able to automatically
print sent, failed and received faxes to any selected printer(s). However, (and again due
solely to the way that
Windows "supports!!!" Windows Services) the LOCAL SYSTEM ACCOUNT is
unable to print to any networked printer at all. To overcome this
(Windows) problem, it means that you have no option but to install it to run
under a specified account if you want to be able to print to a
networked printer. To object to this, please call M$ support and
complain ;-(
Configuring the NetCFax Server
When running as a Service, the Fax
Server's GUI interface is not normally accessible.
If you have it interacting with the desktop, and assuming the version of
Windows allows this to work correctly, then it is not a problem,
as you can simply log in to Windows as the Administrator account
and configure the Fax server in the normal way. You can even use an RDP (Remote Desktop
Protocol) session to do this.
If you cannot access the Fax Server GUI
this way, we also provide a special "Server Controller Tool"
program that is very similar to the normal Fax Server's interface, except the
options provided are only those that are required to configure the
fax server. This can be used even if the Fax server is running as
a Windows Service or a desktop application, or even if the Fax
server is not running at all.
The final way is to "switch" the
fax server between running as a Windows Service and running it as
a standard desktop application. The NetCFax "Service
Controller" tool allows you to do this, although by
definition this will usually
log out any connected fax clients to allow the switch
over process to take place.
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NETCFAX -
Networked fax system