Connecting a client to different servers?

[stephenphill]

( not at the same time of course, one at a time ).  

We have two locations and used separate servers for those locations.  I now have ( partly completed ) VPN connections between the two locations.  

So when in office-1, 10.1.10.xx would reach the local server.  But 10.1.99.xx would reach the office-2 server - obviously it would be slow since our WAN connection is not very fast, but fine to just review something at the other site.  

Is there a way to do this?  Normally when I launch CrystalPM it has a saved IP - I am guessing in the registry - and uses that.  How can I switch back and forth when both are reachable at the same time?  Both offices have identical versions of Crystal so it would not have a compatibility issue.  




I have two workarounds that I could use:
1) don't do that, instead just VNC over to the other site. 
2) get a really cheap windows laptop, set up Crystal client with the other IP on that laptop, and all remote access is from that laptop only.  
3) (not really!) briefly unplug the local server cable so that Crystal client will fail to launch and then will prompt for an IP.  

[friscoeyeassociates]

You should be able to edit the data source reference by opening Crystal at either site, and going to Configuration > Edit ini File and changing the info after "Datasource=" to whichever IP you want to reference..

However, if all you are looking for in terms of functionality is the occasional ability to view and edit charts from the other location it would make more sense to me to just set up a station or multiple workstations with a saved remote desktop session over to the other office. Of course, it will take over a workstation from the other office while someone is logged in using though.

are the two offices close in proximity to one another such that there will be substantial patient crossover from one office to the other? If so it may make sense to combine the two databases??

We have a 2 office set up as well but we share the database across both so that all charts are always available at both locations. We also have a VPN connection set up so the remote office can access the database securely but as you mentioned the connection is slow through the VPN, not ideal for daily constant use. To get around this issue we set up a terminal server at the home location and we run remote sessions into that server at the remote location. This solves the speed issue. Happy to go into more detail about issues we have come up against etc if you would like, just shoot me a message on here with your number

[stephenphill]

Jan 8, 2020 17:04:43 GMT -6 friscoeyeassociates said:

You should be able to edit the data source reference by opening Crystal at either site, and going to Configuration > Edit ini File and changing the info after "Datasource=" to whichever IP you want to reference..

Thank you, sounds like the tip I was needing.

I believe I can script up something to patch the insight.ini file, updating the Datasource line appropriately.  
I am a Unix/Linux guy so probably I'll just install Cygwin and make a bash script - I don't really speak Windows.  


It would be nice if Crystal supported making an icon that was "launch Crystal client with Datasource=xyz" or at least "launch Crystal client without a configured server, prompt for it".  

[youngeyedoc]

We have 2 locations running from the same database, which is located on a server in one office (Windows server 2008 R2). We have a VPN tunnel set up with the two offices via SonicWall appliance, and it is fast. I've never had a lag issue at the remote office. The speed is the same at the office with the server in house. You can run two offices from the same database and have all of the billing separated appropriately. The only thing that is combined is the patient data, but even that can be searched by office location. We have been very pleased with the setup. The only thing I have to do now is upgrade my server since support has been discontinued for server 2008. Not looking forward to that. It's been a good workhorse server for us.

[stephenphill]

Jan 25, 2020 10:05:10 GMT -6 youngeyedoc said:

We have 2 locations running from the same database, which is located on a server in one office (Windows server 2008 R2). We have a VPN tunnel set up with the two offices via SonicWall appliance, and it is fast. I've never had a lag issue at the remote office. The speed is the same at the office with the server in house. ...

Unfortunately at our busiest location the internet speed is pretty terrible - alternating back and forth between good and miserable ( even after paying for an "upgrade" to higher speed, thanks Comcast! ).  So the server would still need to be located there, and then the other location would have terrible access speeds.  

So for now we are keeping two separate servers.  

Thanks though!  If our internet connectivity situation ever improves it sounds like one unified server would be great.  

[tpbuiod]

I am have 2 locations running Crystal PM and want to run a VPN between the locations. This is question for Crystal. Can I install 2 instances of the crystal PM client in different locations on the hard drive and have each one dedicated to connecting to the different servers? For example, client install one would be called Crystal OVEC and client 2 would be called Crystal LHEC. with each client, it would connect to the proper database each time I use it without having to re enter the IP address.

thanks

[erica]

You can, you can make a copy of the crystalpm folder which is generally in C:\Program Files (x86)
After you copy the folder, go into it and right click on the CrystalPM Application icon. It will be 88, 96 or 1157KB in size. send it to the desktop and rename the icon so that you can keep it apart from the other database.
Using the new icon, open Crystal and at the top go to configuration->server. enter the name or the IP address of the other server.

That should be it. It you have any issues, the best way to reach support is by going up to support->request support at the top of Crystal.

[lea]

Does someone mind sharing how Crystal looks with a second location sharing a single database? Do you have separate CrystalPM instances for each location? Or is it the same CrystalPM application for both with a simple dropdown option for each location? We are in the process of adding a second location and I'm uncertain how it works. We are planning on using a VPN to connect the second location to our main location server in order to share the patient database. We would always be running Crystal through the VPN, there would be no Crystal physically running in the new location. I appreciate any input you can offer!