Status Update : Deployment of DOSEMU Application Server

[Shaw Tong Tan <shawtan@yahoo.com>]

A while back I sent a request to the list for advice on running such a setup.  I received several kind suggestions from the list members.  I am now in 1st week of deployment and decide to submit a status update.

My thanks to all the people who pass me info and solutions.

Basic:
1.  Multi-user DOS clipper-based software.
2.  User access from LAN and WAN.
3.  DOS-based dot matrix printing for LAN and WAN clients.

There are currently 2 major ways to do this.
A.  Microsoft Terminal Server/Citrix Products.
B.  Open Source Software.

Option A is known to work.  It does incur higher cost, hardware and software and license management overhead.  I was asked to explore Option B as priority choice.  In case it doesn't work then fall back to Option A.

Observation
1.  Server hardware Quad-Core
2.  Server software CentOS 5.x (32-bit)
3.  DOSEMU with FreeDOS (32-bit) standard RPM download from website
4.  To address the 100% CPU utilization issue, I have used a combination of specialized dos program, Linux NICE value tuning and CPU affinity control to achieve acceptable response to enduser
5.  Initially I use PUTTY and REMOTE ANSi Printing with lpansi for printing
6.  I ran into problem where small size print jobs are ok, but big size print job always hang.
7.  After fruitless workaround attempts and decided against running custom kernels, I made the decision not to use REMOTE ANSI Printing, thus creating a new problem on how to pass print job from server to remote WAN client over the Internet.
8.  Implement OPENVPN for remote WAN clients with DSL connection.
9.  With VPN tunnel open, setup std CUPS printer with SMB config for remote client printer.
10.  Tune the setup to minimize packet fragment, timeout and firewall rules issues.