This case study from the Musical Instrument Museum explores how The Museum System (TMS) can be deployed as a remote application. This was presented at Collective Imagination, 27-28 April 2010.

1. TMS as a Remote Application
A case study from the Musical Instrument Museum
Chad Petrovay
Musical Instrument Museum

2. Factoid
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Opened February 20, 1872
138 years, 2 months, 9 days
50,472 days
Musical Instrument Museum
Opened April 24, 2010
5 days
5 days

3. Musical Instrument Museum
Photo courtesy of Holly Metz

4. Phoenix Metro Area
Courtesy of Google Maps

5. TMS Userbase Growth
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
J J A S O N D J F M A M J J A S O N D J F M A
Accounts Licenses
2008 2009 2010
1:4.8
1:3.2
1:1.2
1:2.1
Data recalibrated to exclude administrative/IT staffing

6. Offsite TMS Access, v1
“We used to joke that everything you’d do in TMS… required
you to drive down Priest street, buy a coffee and come back.”

7. Offsite TMS Access, v2
LogMeIn: User remotely accesses & controls a local workstation.
Connection is faster, but users are frequently booted or dropped.
Required a local workstation for each remote user.

8. TMS Access, v3
Terminal Services: All user sessions are managed on a single
server, and users connect using RDP.
“Dramatically better.”

9. Benefits
• Improved offsite connectivity
• Minimized maintenance time
– One installation of TMS to maintain
– Three ODBC connections to maintain
– Quickly install/swap computers
• Improved user experience
– Provide remote support/training
– Licensing access

10. HARDWARE & SETUP
Terminal Services

11. Server Profile
• CPU: 2 cores
• RAM: 4 GB
• Storage: 60 GB
• OS:
– Windows Server 2008 (x32/x64)
– Windows Server 2008 R2 (x64)
• Internet Information Services (IIS)
• The Museum System (TMS)

12. Other apps to install…
Microsoft Office
• Spell Check
• List View Export
Adobe Reader
• Displaying PDF’s after
Exporting/Printing

13. ODBC Setup
%systemroot% SysWOW64odbcad32.exe

14. Printer Profiles
TS Easy Print vs. Printers Installed on Server

15. Word of Advice
• Turn off Auto Updates & notifications
• Roaming profiles require extra space
• Run TS licensing on domain controller
• TS Client Access Licenses
– Windows XP Pro
– Windows Vista Pro/Enterprise
– Windows 7 Pro/Enterprise

16. SYSTEM ADMINISTRATION
Terminal Services

17. System Administration
TS RemoteApp Manager administers application packages & settings

18. System Administration 2a
RemoteApp Wizard

19. System Administration 2b
RemoteApp Wizard

20. System Administration 2c
RemoteApp Wizard

21. System Administration
TS RemoteApp Programs’ Configuration and distribution configuration

22. USER EXPERIENCE
RemoteApp

23. User Experience: RemoteApp
Users can access TMS and other applications through installed shortcuts.
Can be done from MSI or RDP files. Screen Simulated.

24. User Experience: RemoteApp
Users can access TMS and other applications through installed shortcuts.
Can be done from MSI or RDP files. Screen Simulated.

25. User Experience: RemoteApp
Users can access TMS and other applications through installed shortcuts.
Can be done from MSI or RDP files. Screen Simulated.

26. User Experience: RemoteApp
Users can access TMS and other applications through installed shortcuts.
Can be done from MSI or RDP files. Screen Simulated.

27. User Experience: RemoteApp
Users can access TMS and other applications through installed shortcuts.
Can be done from MSI or RDP files. Screen Simulated.

28. USER EXPERIENCE
Terminal Services Web Access

29. User Experience: Web Access
Users can access TMS and other applications through Internet Explorer.
Requires an ActiveX plug-in. Screen Simulated.

30. User Experience: Web Access
Users can access TMS and other applications through Internet Explorer.
Requires an ActiveX plug-in. Screen Simulated.

31. User Experience: Web Access
Users can access TMS and other applications through Internet Explorer.
Requires an ActiveX plug-in. Screen Simulated.

32. User Experience: Web Access
Users can access TMS and other applications through Internet Explorer.
Requires an ActiveX plug-in. Screen Simulated.

33. Word of Advice
• Beware pop-behinds
– Dialog boxes
– List View Export (Excel)
– Can be rectified with Alt-Tab
• Suspended sessions

34. SESSION MANAGEMENT
Terminal Services Manager

35. Session Management
Terminal Services Manager allows administrators to manage sessions.

36. Session Management: Messaging
Terminal Services Manager permits messaging active user sessions.
Screen Simulated.

37. Session Management: Messaging
Send messages to active user sessions.
Screen Simulated.

38. Session Management: Remote
Control
Terminal Services Manager permits controlling remote sessions.
Screen Simulated.

39. Session Management: Remote
Control
Take control of an active user session.
Screen Simulated.

40. Session Management: Remote
Control
Terminal Services Manager can log off active or disconnected sessions.
Screen Simulated.

41. Word of Advice
• Recommend periodic logging off
disconnected sessions
• Keep a text file of standard messages
– “This appears to be a suspended session.
Please call x6058 or email
chad.petrovay@themim.org within 5
minutes or this session will be terminated.
Thank you.”

42. Question & Answer
chad.petrovay@themim.org
http://petrovay.com/tmsblog