Multipoint Server 2011 and USB devices

[bewlay51]

Hello all,

 

Is there a list available of USB devices that work with network terminal units such as Axel, Wyse and Ncomputing?

 

Any remote WMS 2011 sessions would have to work with Smart Interactive Whiteboards which are connected via a USB cable. I know I would have to install the drivers on the WMS 2011 server, but would the board be seen and work when it was plugged in at the remote end?

 

Also, has anybody tested touch screens on remote sessions with Multipoint?

 

Any comments or information welcome.

 

John

[SYNACK]

Not sure about the USB devices, I imagine that for USB passthrough working the clients may need a compatible version of the driver to work on both the client and the host server. As it runs over RDP I imagine the same criteria apply to devices and compatibility.

 

With regards to the touch screen it should work with at least single point over RDP so long as the client has drivers as it would just pass the input as mouse clicks. Multitouch is another story and I have no idea if RDP supports it and have not been able to find an answer on the net.

[Axel]

Promethean, when I last spoke to them had a "PC only" atitude to support for their IWB product, they had no interest in offering support for thin clients...

 

Touch screens are supported by Axel, as are printers, smart cards, mass storage and various specific products we have been asked to support over the years, for example Aladin security Etokens, and certain digitial dictation h/w etc. It is not so much a matter a what product any given thin client supports, more a question of what classes of products the server environment supports....

[plexer]

I haven't tested IWB usage with thin clients and mps. I have an older axel client I could give it a whirl with tomorrow.

 

Ben

[Axel]

Ben - Don't bother - USB definitely won't work - there is no channel within RDP/ICA to pass the IWB commands back through, the terminal will "see" the IWB locally, but there is no provision within RDP to "join" the IWB back to the server.

 

Using serial port re-direction "should" work for the older serial Promethian IWB, as the drivers in this case are installed on the server, and the terminal just "joins" the IWB to the server/driver. We did some testing with a London school and couldn't get it to work. The IWB manufacturer had no interest in helping.

 

In any event there is probably an arguement to give the teacher a PC, they are inevitably more flexible.. (CDroms, cameras, IWB, flatbead scanner etc)

[bewlay51]

Many thanks for all your comments -

Over the next few months I need to trail multipoint 2011 with a whole host of USB devices including Smartboards and touch screens. Axel seem to be the best bet for USB connectivity, and this is important as the plan is to try(???) and replace the teachers laptops with classroom thin clients. These thin clients must be able to run Smart, USB pen drives and if possible an external USB DVD drive. That's a big test for Multipoint and any thin client device.

 

I will post the results - but maybe a couple of months away.....

 

Regards,

 

John

[milt]

Any progress on your plans to test usb devices? I am particularly interested in DVD players on a thin client in multipoint server.

 

BTW, in response to your earlier question, Plugable DC-125's work beautifully with WMS 2011 using DisplayLink chips.

[Arthur]

Would a USB-over-IP software work for IWBs?

 

http://virtualboytv.com/r2hyperv7.aspx

http://usbip.sourceforge.net/

[bewlay51]

Hello all,

I will be testing smartboard on MPS within the next month. I have just upgraded the server to 2008 R2 and finished the GPO's to secure the desktops. The LG network monitors have arrived, but we are still waiting for the multipoint server. I hope to test the smartboards using a L300 and an Axel M85 terminal, so with some luck I can let you know the results soon.

 

The USB over Ethernet looks interesting that Arthur posted and again I want to look at all options at using USB devices with MPS.

 

I hope to post the results soon.

 

Regards,

 

John