Dubai internet anomaly

Thin client 1C or 1C in RDP? On a line with a delay of 150 – 200 ms.

Since the beginning of Covid, it has seemed to me that we are gradually moving towards a return to the concept of terminal access, as it was before the era of personal computers. Nowadays this is a fashionable term VDI (Virtual Desktop Infrastructure) What Is Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)? | Microsoft Azure which is impossible without RDP solutions. I am completely FOR VDI because it dramatically reduces the need to spend a lot of time on users’ PCs, deployment, policy synchronization, etc.

But when you look at the magnitude of delays in Dubai, and current political trends, it becomes clear that you need to look for another way. And here WebClients and Thin Clients of specific applications come to the rescue, working through the same VPN.

This is what it looks like in 1C

Now let’s compare the operation of the 1C thin client via Microsoft RDP and without (via TCP without HTTPS).

Conditions: Same laptop, same VPN, wired network without using Wi-fi.

As a test, a simple sequence of actions: launch 1C, open the transaction list form, open a transaction, transactions, launch the balance sheet, open an account card, close everything.

Difference in traffic measurements

1C Thin client in RDP session

1C Thin client without RDP

Two facts are visible

A) The average traffic of the 1C thin client is visually less

B) RDP traffic looks denser, but in the Thin Client it is more ragged and the peaks occur when data is accessed.

Of course, you can measure the number of bytes per session, peak and minimum values, exact averages. But it is also clear that in a thin client the operator’s work is more comfortable, since in RDP the traffic is constant, in the 1C thin client only at the moment of accessing the cluster.

A long time ago, I managed to participate in the deployment of SAP throughout Russia, where there was everything from monopoly providers with overloaded routers, to satellite communications with huge delays.

When analyzing networks, you need to understand that user applications behave differently than downloading files in large blocks. In user applications, there is a request-response cycle, and in small packets compared to copying files. This is especially sensitive in client-server applications, where increasing the latency by 1 ms immediately reduces the speed of operation.

For 1C 8.3, where the three-tier architecture is much better, and the presence of a thin client allows you to do without RDP. More details in an old but relevant article Analysis of computer network performance using the example of application programs 1C, SAP, 1C+Citrix, SAP+Citrix

You can also focus on the WebClient, but for it the 1C configuration must be adapted, and this is more difficult than for the 1C thin client. If you use a modern standard one, there are no problems – it is already adapted for the WebClient.

Freedom is measured by the length of the chain.

There is an illusion that in the era of remote work you can work from anywhere. But the Internet depends heavily on control over common communication channels. For example, in Dubai there are many restrictions on types of traffic – more details are provided here Dubai. Mobile communications, operators and Internet quality – Mobile-review.com – All about mobile equipment and technologies .

This is not written directly or officially anywhere, but highly likely in Dubai and the emirates, traffic abroad is slowed down wherever possible. At least traditional video conferences Whatsapp and Telegram are difficult to use. Botim is better with locals. The only thing I don't understand is whether it's just a slowdown or slowdown due to traffic filtering. Just banal espionage, it does not require slowing down traffic – it is enough to duplicate the optical signal.

And it is difficult to fight this. It seems that in theory the availability of the Internet should increase, but in practice everything will end in filters and walls.

It would seem that modern satellite Internet, where the delay is much less, will help? But no

I am more than sure that there must be places without severe slowdown (stock exchange, Microsoft data center), otherwise it would be impossible to work.

But they, of course, are not for everyone – if there are available data centers in Dubai, where everything is fine with access to the outside – please share.

And so everything is according to the classics: as soon as an infrastructure with one “pipe” appears, it will definitely be taken under control. In Russia, compared to Dubai, working with the outside world is still comfortable, however, when they tried to slow down Youtube, many felt problems with resources that had nothing to do with Youtube.

If you want to test your Internet application for strength, place it on the cloud in Dubai and get a real test for bad channels. There will even be a Request timeout via mobile communications.

In such times, interpersonal networks increase their value because they are not subject to total control. I wouldn’t be surprised that radio relay portals across the border for “our friends” will soon appear, because the short period of globalization is winding down.

In the meantime, the strategy for using 1C on communication lines with a large delay is as follows

1) Using the 1C Thin Client

2) Use the 1C Web client, if possible

3) Using the mechanism of distributed databases (replication) Distributed information base | Exchange plan – 1C:Enterprise platform (1c.ru)

The latter mechanism radically solves the problem with poor traffic, but in the case of standard 1C solutions it has two drawbacks

1) There are no ready-made libraries for exchanging large amounts of data. As far as I know, parallelization of exchange within a single metadata exchange has not appeared. It is no longer easy to update quotes for thousands of financial instruments. Just write your own code.

2) You need to create infrastructure in data centers in different countries; this has both advantages and price at the same time.

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