With that out of the way....

Point will not give the temporary files a unique name so you may experience some problems. Be sure to do the installation of Point using Add/remove programs on the Terminal Server rather than using the Point CD setup.exe or autorun.

You can still deploy Calyx via a WAN or VPN, but doing so requires you to manage every desktop with Calyx installed.  Even with an administrative setup, deploying new versions can be cumbersome and not as quickly delivered as can be done through Citrix or Terminal Services.  Also, if you want to have a centralized Templates directory with a WAN/VPN, users will see very slow performance when accessing those items.  The new PDS has enhanced access to the prospect and borrower files, but you still have some speed constraints pulling that amount of data over the WAN/VPN.  Not to mention security issues in having an increased number of remote computers with access to your network.

However, I have spent the last year perfecting a method of deploying Calyx under Terminal Services that does the following:

• Avoids all temporary file collision, preventing erroneous data on custom forms and headaches when executing many interfaces.
• Allows centralized administration and distribution of forms lists and print groups.
• Allows segmentation of the Cardex database so that it's not required to use the same database companywide (managed via Active Directory security groups).
• Allows centralized administration of Data Folder lists (managed via Active Directory security groups).

Having these things greatly reduces administration costs and allows for rapid deployment of Calyx.  Please contact me if you would like assistance in implementing this solution.

Tom Williams, Mortgage Technology Consultant

thomastx@swbell.net

Tom R. Williams
Mortgage Technology Consultant

thomastx@swbell.net

change user /install

change user /execute

Tom, thanks for the great info, I just have a couple of remarks regarding your comments on Point Data Server (PDS).  You published your message just after PDS 5.1 was released, so maybe you were not aware of some of its features (and you were talking about PDS 5.0).

1) Point 5.1 clients connect to PDS 5.1 through HTTPS, therefore there is no need for a VPN. 

2) PDS 5.1 compresses all data before sending it to Point.  This includes not only the loan files (*.BRW/*.PRS and associated files), but also any results derived from searches, reports, etc...  We are actually sending XML over HTTPS, which compresses really well: most of the time 75%-80%.

3) As for the security concerns, we have a number of mechanisms in place to stop unauthorized access (e.g. SSL/HTTPS, Point users must login in a PDS environement, PDS Security key for the organization, and a few other features which I won't mention here).  All operations between the Point client and PDS are exected only through HTTPS on port 443 - so unless you open holes in your firewall, remote users should not have "access to your network".

4) Regarding performance, our Quality Assurance (QA) team has tested PDS 5.1 in the following environment:

• 5000 Users
• 500 User Groups
• 500 PDS Accelerated folders.
• Over 1,000,000 (one million) loan files.
• Over 6,000,000 (six million) tasks.
• The data folder used in the tests had roughly 2,500 loan files and 500 co-borrower files.

With the above setup, the response times were really good.  See the results for yourself at http://pdskb.calyxsoftware.com/article.aspx?id=10132

In a TS/Citrix environment with conventional Point, I think it would be much more difficult for you to setup 5,000 users, 500 data folders and the access rights for each user.  Point users connecting to PDS 5.1 also only need an Internet connection - there's no need for a special TS/Citrix client, etc...

For those interested in PDS, check out:

http://www.calyxsoftware.com/products/pds/index.asp

and

http://pdskb.calyxsoftware.com

While Point might run fine over HTTPS and not need a VPN most branch offices would then need a VPN for other reasons, file sharing of documents, printing to the remote office, etc..

Terminal Services/Citrix accomplishes all of these things with very little bandwidth over the VPN and very little administration of the local desktop (none really). It's much easier to setup  users in a Terminal Server environment. The software is already installed (and one upgrade upgrade everyone!), etc...

Plus you can cluster Terminal Servers and make their profile work on every server....(we do)

Eric

Eric Langley
Foundation Financial Group

TS/Citrix wouldn't require installation of 5000 copies of Point.  One install and your done.  No worries about the quality of the user's PC.  We have 100+ users running Windows 98, 32mb RAM, Pentium 120.  They run at least 10 different apps at high performance, and no upgrades were required.  You would also only need an Internet connection as the client could be seamlessly installed as an ActiveX control in the user's browser.  But isn't there still need for access to the Templates directory?  If that is shared, it would require VPN and be incredibly slow, especially when accessing loan programs (we have 700+), custom forms, etc.  I'd put money on a faster implementation with TS/Citrix in a heartbeat!

Thankfully, there are multiple ways to make this work, and different methods work better in different implementations.  A Point client that talked directly to a SQL database would sure be nice, and eliminate a lot of headaches. 

Tom R. Williams
Mortgage Technology Consultant

thomastx@swbell.net