Has anyone used ESKO server/tools from remote workstation.

[FlexoGrunt]

RIP and licensing server will be in one state while the user will be in another. Se we'd need the ability to use the Deskpack plugins as well as pilot.


Just curious if anyone else had tried this and what was your end result.

I was thinking a VPN connection should provide the connectivity for the plugins to access the licensing server. The alternative would be to work on the art, transfer it to the server and then use a remote desktop for processing the files?


I did speak with ESKO but I was unable to get much further than leaving the firewall off (which we can't do).

 

[Polyprintgirl]

We work on the art in Denver, then RIP the files to len and copy to a server that our TX printing facility can access. All prep work done in Denver, the plates are made from the len files in TX.

 

[jlee]

I don't know if it's legal as per the license agreement, but I have done this in the past via a network that was VPN tunneled to accomodate what the software thought was a giant local network. The locations were approx. 400 miles apart and it worked but in both locations we had gigabit connections directly to an internet backbone. The deskpack plugins do a lot of client to server communications and we found that it worked fine in our scenario but when I've tried to work from home with a cable connection and vpn to my AE server and found that to be very painful as my upload speed at home was 1 mbit while my download speed was 20 mbits, the plugins send quite a bit back to the server for processing and when working on a 20mb AI file it could take up to an hour just to normalize.

I believe that when I did the site to site connection my Esko rep didn't want to know about it, I think that the license agreement is based upon site and not upon company.

Good luck,
JL

 

[jlee]

I do recall that we had to ensure that our VPN tunnel had specific ports opened due to the fact that the licensing information is on an obscure port number for TCP/UDP.

As for what polyprint girl had to say, I'm pretty sure that sending a LEN file is no problem it's just the actual RIP and License server location where you can get into software license agreement issues.

JL

 

[chevalier]

I've done this with Heidelberg Prinect. A VPN is a VPN it doesn't care about your software. I can't see any reason why an external computer connected via VPN would have any issues accessing a license server or other servers. Be sure to do the VPN right with encryption and logging.

 

[Toweri]

Possible but against license terms

Possible but against license terms

RIP and licensing server will be in one state while the user will be in another. Se we'd need the ability to use the Deskpack plugins as well as pilot.

Just curious if anyone else had tried this and what was your end result.

I was thinking a VPN connection should provide the connectivity for the plugins to access the licensing server.

Technically this is possible, tested and works. But it is unequivocally against Esko's licensing terms. They license their products on "site" basis, i.e. each license is tied to a geographical location. (Although they have not stated clearly, how far apart two sites need to be to be considered "different" sites; different buildings on shared property? Adjacent city blocks? 1 km apart? 10 km? 100 km? You get the point - is anyone willing to test this point in a court of law...?)

"Technically possible" can here be construed the same as "in the same Class B subnet". This much I have been able to extract from Esko themselves. To not break any Esko licensing clauses, I'll have to leave the technical details (and possible legal repercussions!) for you to figure out with this information.