Windows Multiseat configuration challenge :)

alight

alight

alight

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Hi all,
I'm posting this question on "Windows & Other Software" thread as it looks to me like a more software related question and also because I tend to use more Windows related applications but I suspect it has impacts on hardware choices and I'm sure there are solutions on Linux.

Which means:
- if this isn't the right place to post this question I apologies and please help me locate the best place;
- if the there are solutions that involve specific hardware components or Linux software I'm very happy to consider them.

That said, this is the context behind my question: my wife and I have one laptop each and we use them daily, often at the same time of the day (i.e. in parallel). My wife uses her laptop mainly to browse on Internet, to Skype around, to use Office applications and occasinally to enjoy management simulation games (like Casino or Beach Life). I use mine for the same purposes, but my games are much more CPU intensive :D

Now, our laptops are quite old and it's finally time for a makeover. We have the option to buy two new computers and spend let's say £350 for hers and maybe £450 for mine and that's it. Or we can join forces and buy a £800 machine that will serve both of us, with much more horse power available. Nowadays computers can surely serve loads of concurrent activities so why waste money in hardware duplication???

So here's the challenge, finally: can someone help me identify a good hardware/software configuration that will have the following features (ordered by priority) and costs around £800?
1. can serve concurrently (at least) two workstations (i.e. Monitor+Keyboard+Mouse+Headphones)
2. supports all windows applications, in separate user environments (ideally separate virtual systems)
3. support very intensive games, ideally also VR games
4. isn't noisy like a hoover ;)

References I found on Internet are:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiseat_configuration
- https://www.x.org/wiki/Development/Documentation/Multiseat

Thanks for any suggestion, reference, comment!!!
Alight.
 
non starter
/end

buy 2 laptops
i5 for her i7 for you, bit of googling and you should be able to find some in your price range
 
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Because it's far less complicated to just have two laptops.

MS did release Windows MultiPoint Server which was aimed at education but that's stuck around a 2011 release. I doubt it would support any sort of intensive gaming and VR.

Remote Desktop Services can use GPU acceleration but you're nowhere near the budget for that with £800 to spend. The core server to support that is typically big, loud and expensive.
 
Gaming especially will be a sticking point as most of the setups for this kind of things (atleast at the budget end of the scale) are designed for educational or light business environments and not particularly great for performance gaming needs.

I'd agree with lude1962 that the complexity and potential issues make this not really worth trying to pursue.
 
Ok, I see your points.

Since I really don't want to waste money resources/maintenance-effort buying two computers when one can accommodate 95% of my needs and I'm certain - hardware wise - an £800 multi-core computer can do whatever I need for two people (probably more) with the exception of high-end gaming.

So, let's factor the gaming out. Let's say that if I want to play serious games I'll do something like dual-boot and use the system in exclusive mode.

Can you help me find configurations to have a single computer service two workstations for Office, Internet, Skype and similar other low intensive use?

Thank you very much for your comments.
 
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a workstation is a computer that connects to a server
you would need a pc (ie as a server) to run multiple windows vm's and connect using your old laptops (may need windows sever license or another two windows license depending upon how you want the final config to run)
there may be alternatives to this but the phrase easy doesn't spring to mind.

I'd doubt you'd want to research this setup(citrix springs to mind), hence the simple buy two laptops answer.


Can you help me find configurations to have a single computer service two workstations for Office, Internet, Skype and similar other low intensive use?
Alternatively buy one decent laptop, you can have multiple users on each laptop, just swap over depending upon need.
 
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alight said:
So, let's factor the gaming out. Let's say that if I want to play serious games I'll do something like dual-boot and use the system in exclusive mode.

Can you help me find configurations to have a single computer service two workstations for Office, Internet, Skype and similar other low intensive use?

Thank you very much for your comments.
Click to expand...

That would be Windows Server Remote Desktop Services (RDS).

Needs Windows Server + User CALs (Client Access License) + Remote Desktop CALs. At which point you don't have much, if any, change from £800 and you've not got your hardware yet. A Dell PowerEdge T20 or HP Microserver would probably cope with two users but with enough RAM is probably going to be £300 to £400.

A Google search turns up sites claiming to hack Windows 7 to allow multiple (concurrent) RDS but that's a fudge at best if it works.

What about buying a PC/laptop for the main use and then a tablet for general surfing, Skype etc?
 
That would be Windows Server Remote Desktop Services (RDS).
Click to expand...

The problem with RDS (apart from the cost) is that it usually requires at least a "thin Client" in the middle to support the remote connection, which means ending up with two computers anyway, with the small one bottlenecking the big one.

Then I was wondering... aren't all Windows systems configurable to receive remote desktop connections? Why is it necessary to pass through Window Server?
Thinking about this: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us...to-another-computer-remote-desktop-connection

In either case, if the Windows system is able to handle multiple sessions through RDS, what I'm asking basically is a way to keep the RDS Server and the "thin client" on the same machine. Could having two separate video cards help?

What about buying a PC/laptop for the main use and then a tablet for general surfing, Skype etc?
Click to expand...
What I'm trying to do is have two separate but potentially equivalent workstations (in the sense of montior+keyboard+mouse+headphones) that have access to the same programs, resources, data, basically to the same system. This would greatly simplify the maintenance, like the handling of updates, backups, fix of issues and be the best way to share the great computational power of the system between the users.

Thanks for your suggestions.
 
alight said:
The problem with RDS (apart from the cost) is that it usually requires at least a "thin Client" in the middle to support the remote connection, which means ending up with two computers anyway, with the small one bottlenecking the big one.

Then I was wondering... aren't all Windows systems configurable to receive remote desktop connections? Why is it necessary to pass through Window Server?
Thinking about this: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us...to-another-computer-remote-desktop-connection

In either case, if the Windows system is able to handle multiple sessions through RDS, what I'm asking basically is a way to keep the RDS Server and the "thin client" on the same machine. Could having two separate video cards help?


What I'm trying to do is have two separate but potentially equivalent workstations (in the sense of montior+keyboard+mouse+headphones) that have access to the same programs, resources, data, basically to the same system. This would greatly simplify the maintenance, like the handling of updates, backups, fix of issues and be the best way to share the great computational power of the system between the users.

Thanks for your suggestions.
Click to expand...

As I mentioned above, some websites claim to "hack" Windows 7 to allow multiple (concurrent) RD sessions. Microsoft don't support it as they want to sell businesses licenses for servers to support multiple users.

You can use the RDS client on an RDS Server to connect back to it, but you're still going to need another device (plus keyboard+mouse+monitor) for the 2nd user.

Having checked again, MS offer MultiPoint Server 2012 and apparently Server 2016 will build on it further. However, AFAIK, it's only available through Volume Licensing (as it is pitched mainly at education).

I've just priced a license for MutliPoint Standard with 4 User CALs (to meet minimum order quantities for volume licensing) - you are going to be paying over £700+VAT. That's just for the software.

Just buy two laptops or a laptop + tablet :p
 
Or buy a £800 desktop and use steam's streaming service to one of the old laptops when you want to play games on it, it works pretty well through a wired connection even with very modest clients.

Linux is also a good option to give aging laptops a new lease of life.
 
miniframe has a free trial , try it!

and from previous post
'This would greatly simplify the maintenance, like the handling of updates, backups, fix of issues and be the best way to share the great computational power of the system between the users.
'
lol 2 pc's hardly overtaxing ,try corporate land where people support thousands

......and when it goes wrong 2 people wont have a pc.
 
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I will most definitely try some of those applications, they are promising.

'This would greatly simplify the maintenance, like the handling of updates, backups, fix of issues and be the best way to share the great computational power of the system between the users.
'
lol 2 pc's hardly overtaxing ,try corporate land where people support thousands
Click to expand...
I know the "corporate land" but there people are paid to do the job, at home I'm not and the less the better. Anyway am I the only one here that finds obvious the advantage of having one big poweful computer instead of two half sized ones?

......and when it goes wrong 2 people wont have a pc.
Click to expand...
When it goes wrong, we revert temporarily to the old laptops, of course.
 
alight said:
I know the "corporate land" but there people are paid to do the job, at home I'm not and the less the better. Anyway am I the only one here that finds obvious the advantage of having one big poweful computer instead of two half sized ones?
Click to expand...

I think so ;)

When application X or game Y crashes, you've added an additional layer to troubleshoot.

From one of the links:

ASTER v.2.12 is incompatible with update of Windows 10 build 10.0.14393

We confirm the problem of Windows 10 not starting with the ASTER software enabled <snip> This problem is fixed in ASTER v.2.14
Click to expand...

So given Windows 10 has a rolling update and upgrade path, are you wanting to mess with the sharing software when MS push a new update out?
 
Anyway am I the only one here that finds obvious the advantage of having one big poweful computer instead of two half sized ones?'

There is no obvious advantage, a) 2 simple systems b)1 large complex system which will take more admin time and more prone to failure.
Option a wins every time
 
'Anyway am I the only one here that finds obvious the advantage of having one big poweful computer instead of two half sized ones?'

There is no obvious advantage, a) 2 simple systems b)1 large complex system which will take more admin time and more prone to failure.
Option a wins every time
Click to expand...

There are no "simple systems", in either case there are Windows systems, each approximately with the same maintenance load, but in case B it's 1, in case A it's 2. I don't see a win for A.

More importantly, with B I have the specs doubled which means more applications/games supported.

Anyway, this post is not about discussing the logic behind my choice but if someone wants to share experience/suggestions on how to implement a multiseat windows system with a budget of approximately £800.
Thanks.
 
So given Windows 10 has a rolling update and upgrade path, are you wanting to mess with the sharing software when MS push a new update out?
Click to expand...

This is for sure a compelling argument and something that will probably cause the system to some occasional instability, but as this is not the only software available and there is always the option to termporarily revert to the old laptop for one of the users, I don't think this is too much of an issue. But, yes, this is a concern.

I gave a try yesterday to Aster (http://www.ibik.ru/) on a Windows 8 and I must say I'm impressed by its ease of use. It worked well. It's early to say if it's a stable and reliable option, but I'll test it in the next days and see how it performs under various use cases.
 
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