So with the laptops, IF their home internet access is fast enough and the work internet access to the server is fast enough and can handle it, VPN may be an option. UDP VPN is faster than TCP VPN because TCP has to send back that acknowledgement packet. The stronger encryption used on the VPN can also slow things up a bit. Its a trade off when net access is slow.
What makes Terminal Server/Remote Desktop viable is its just shifting screen pixels down to the remote user from an office workstation or a cloud/virtual desktop. The app’s work is done on the office workstation or cloud server, the remote worker is only seeing pixels with some extra abilities to map their local resources (drives, usb sticks, printers) to the server desktop (which has been a security risk in the past and could still be FYI).
So if the remote workforce has slow internet access, terminal server/remote desktop can compensate by downgrading the colour scheme to just 256 grey scale ie running it in black and white with a smaller screen resolution. The higher the color scale, the better the internet access has to be, the higher the screen resolution ie 1920x1080 compared to 640x480, the better the internet access to be.
Its why linux command line users can run over GPRS (2.5G) over the mobile phone network because they are just sending and receiving ascii which is a tiny data set compared to pixel data sets.
Both methods VPN or Windows Remote Desktop allow access to UNC server shares \shared\personal\drive which can then be mapped to a S: drive.
When you say this, I’m assuming some sort of OLE, COM or COM+?
OLE & COM will work with both VPN and Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) which is Terminal Server/Remote Desktop etc because the with VPN the app is running on the remote workers laptop, with Terminal Server/Remote Desktop, its running on the workstation or cloud server. However you need to be aware of this with your server Clarion 10/11 program running on Windows Server Core - #11 by anon23294430
some server versions wont have OLE.
COM+ is distributed COM, so I can use COM+ to do stuff to other workstations computers, its how software installers can push new software to be installed automatically on someone’s workstation. Setupbuilder doesnt do this, but things like ESET AV does push installation onto workstation. This is also a security risk that is worth bearing in mind, its a MS technology you might want disabled using group policy, otherwise someone could push any malware onto a laptop sat in a coffee shop where the free wifi doesnt have “isolation” enabled"
If you decide to test the VPN route, the IP driver is perfect this situation, you can run the IP driver through the VPN to the IP server in the office.
There is also nothing stopping you from having both VPN and Remote Desktop running with your app at the same time for redundancy purposes.
You could even put the web server terminal server login page behind the VPN so they have to get past VPN security first before being able to access inside the work network.
Obviously if you do this, the extra layer of encryption by hiding behind the VPN will also add to the bandwidth load, so its a trade off if you dont have super fast broadband.
If you are based in the UK, something else ADSL users can do to get the maximum speed out of their ADSL connections (doesnt apply to Cable like Virgin or Fibre to the Property/Ethernet to the property), is to just plug the router into the master socket and disconnect all phone extension wiring spurred off the master socket.
Having extension sockets connected to the master socket can drop an 80Mb connection to as low as 18Mb! Just as a FYI.
I can connect to the ADSL cabinet faster than the broadband package allows, so my internet connection is throttled to the maximum speed the package allowed.
Something to consider if anyone is planning on using mobile internet access, is the data is sent in bursts, which can make the desktop experience somewhat jerky. Wired internet access allows for a smoother desktop experience, its the nature of the different networks where voice has top priority and mobile internet is secondary along with text messages. Even text messages dont have to be delivered for 24hrs which means it cant always be relied on for 2FA, but in practice that doesnt happen often.
Anyway I think that gives a brief overview of the various factors involved in remote working.