Remote Access and Hosting Options, macOS Servers/Clients

April 2020:  Working from home is top of mind for most of us these days!  There are several ways to accomplish this depending on your particular needs. PLEASE call in to Support so we can help you decide which approach may be best for you!

Working from home, satellite office or on the road? Would you rather have your AcctVantage Server hosted on the cloud? This article describes a number of options for you to consider.

Some of the products and services referenced below are 3rd party offerings. AcctVantage Support will work in collaboration with the 3rd party system providers to get set up. In other words, it is a team effort!

Remote access can be setup to work in a mixed macOS and Windows environment in most cases.  

It must be noted that the options below are what we have tested and found to work. There are many alternatives to address this issue that your IT staff or consultants may be more familiar or more comfortable with.  We are happy to help in any way we can!

Remote Access to AcctVantage Client

This section describes options for accessing AcctVantage Client remotely.  For this section the AcctVantage ERP Server application is running on your 'office' or primary LAN.

1:1 Screen Sharing Options. The simplest option is to use any number of screen sharing utilities to access a computer on the office LAN. The computer 'at the office' would run AcctVantage Client while the remote user connects via a screen sharing utility such as:

Considerations for screen sharing applications include how to best manage printing and file sharing between the 'home' and 'office' computers. Each application will approach these issues in a different way.

The limitation here is that you need a 'host' computer on the office network for each remote connection. This may be fine for some and not desirable for others.

Remote Desktop Services, General

Both Apple and Windows support a process that is known as Remote Desktop Services (aka Terminal Services).  This essentially means that you can host <more than 1> user account on a single computer at the 'office' site.  Each user that logs into the 'terminal server' will see a unique desktop environment and will be able to use 'their' account on that server computer to access applications, including AcctVantage Client.

The number of concurrent users supported by Remote Desktop Services is primarily a function of the hardware.  There is a direct relationship between the processor speed, number of processor cores and available RAM and the number of concurrent users that can be supported.  Several RDS servers can be used simultaneously to support an unlimited number of remote users.

The AcctVantage Server application can also run on the RDS server in its own user account.  This means that you could have a single computer on your 'office' network that runs BOTH the AcctVantage Server AND a number of AcctVantage Client sessions simultaneously!  The limiting factor is the computer hardware itself. Or, your AcctVantage Server can continue to run on its own dedicated server computer while the RDS computer(s) host the AcctVantage Client sessions.

While it may not be strictly necessary in every instance, we have found that macOS Server ($19.99 at the App Store) can help facilitate the various RDS approaches outlined below.

Windows servers generally have Remote Desktop Services built in as part of the operating system. For windows, we strongly suggest consulting a qualified systems engineer to best deploy your RDS infrastructure.

1:Many macOS Screen Sharing

We have had great success in testing with a Mac server and clients using Apple's built in Screen Sharing (VNC).

  1. On the 'office' network, you would setup a host computer (with appropriate RAM/processor) running macOS Server ($19.99 at the App Store) .  macOS Server will facilitate running multiple, concurrent, user accounts on the same hardware.
  2. On the host computer  create a macOS user account for each end user that needs access to AcctVantage Client.  These macOS user accounts must have screen sharing active in the System Preferences > Sharing screen.
  3. Configure your router to assign a public IP address to the host computer
  4. The AcctVantage Server application can continue to run on its own hardware, or could run on the Administrator user account on the hardware used to host the end user accounts.  This is dependent on your hardware specifications, and we continue to recommend that the server application runs on its own hardware if possible.
  5. End users access their user account on the host computer FROM their 'home' computer by going to Finder > Go > Connect To Server.
    At the prompt, enter the IP address for the host computer.  This address will look like  vnc://[host_ip_address

    Then, enter the user name and password for their macOS account on the host computer. Once connected the user will be able to see 'their' desktop on the host and launch AcctVantage Client.

    For more on Apple's built in screen sharing, see this article:  https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/share-the-screen-of-another-mac-mh14066/mac

For Screen Sharing, printing and audio can be more difficult to setup. Security is fair but not as robust as some of the other options.

NuoRDS

NuoRDS is a 3rd party application that requires separate licensing. Our intention is to describe our testing an experience with the tool, but you should do your own diligence to decide if it's right for you!

NuoRDS is a Terminal Services application specifically for macOS servers. We have found this application to be very easy to setup and manage. WIth a true Terminal Services application issues like printing, audio, security, etc. are handled by the software. In other words, less IT support is generally needed.

The setup for NuoRDS largely mirrors the Screen Sharing setup above:

  1. On the 'office' network, you would setup a host computer (with appropriate RAM/processor) running macOS Server ($19.99 at the App Store) .  macOS Server will facilitate running multiple, concurrent, user accounts on the same hardware.
  2. On the host computer  create a macOS user account for each end user that needs access to AcctVantage Client.  These macOS user accounts must have screen sharing active in the System Preferences > Sharing screen.
  3. Configure your router to assign a public IP address to the host computer
  4. The AcctVantage Server application can continue to run on its own hardware, or could run on the Administrator user account on the hardware used to host the end user accounts.  This is dependent on your hardware specifications, and we continue to recommend that the server application runs on its own hardware if possible.
  5. Install NuoRDS (https://www.nuords.com/products/nuords-ts/) on the host computer. Configure NuoRDS to allow for multiple connections.
  6. With NuoRDS your end users will access their account on the RDS via the MS Remote Desktop app available on the Apple Store at no charge.

When printing via a NuoRDS connection, your users will be able to select their 'local' printer.

Hosted Servers

Coupled with the Remote Access options above, hosting your AcctVantage Server in the cloud can be accomplished quickly and with relative ease!

Our testing has been primarily with MacMiniVault (If you sign up, please use Referral Code:  k1-5) though other options exist. With MacMiniVault, you can buy or lease a dedicated computer (Mac Mini, Mac Pro) that is configured to your needs. AcctVantage Client and AcctVantage Server can installed on the hosted computer to provide 'in the cloud' access to your AcctVantage system from anywhere in the world.

Add more hosted computers as needed to support any number of concurrent users. Hosting is highly reliable and scalable, taking much of the burden for IT support of your plate. We are happy to help with setup and configuration!