Remote Office Management
Most companies have their branch offices spread across the world. Managing computers in these branch offices effectively is always a tedious job for the system administrators. With DEX Manager Plus in hand, managing computers in WAN across remote offices will turn out to be a much easier process. To manage computers in a remote location you have to add remote offices. You can add and modify the remote offices according to your requirement.
Remote Office
Remote Office refers to a location-based group that represents the geographical locations of an organization’s network. Each geographical presence of an organization can be created as a different Remote Office to manage the computers in each location. Kindly note that only one Distribution Server can be configured per remote office and vice-versa.
To know more about adding a remote office, click here.
Communication Type
Computers in different locations can either communicate directly with the Central Server or via a Distribution Server. Each method has its own advantages depending on factors like network bandwidth, proximity to the Central Server, and the number of computers being managed.
Two categories of Remote Offices depending on the communication method used by Agents to connect with the Central Server:
Direct Communication with Central Server
Each computer communicates directly with the Central Server to receive scripts or workflows. This method is best where the WAN bandwidth is sufficient to handle multiple direct connections to download updates and configurations.
When to use direct communication
When you choose your communication type as Direct communication, all the remote office computers will get the required data from the DEX Manager Plus server directly. You can use this option, if you have limited computers in your remote office, say less than 10, or if you do not have any bandwidth limitation.
Distribution Server
The Distribution Server is a lightweight software component installed on one of the computers in remote offices. This component acts as an intermediary between the Central Server and Agents for pulling scripts or workflows from the Central Server and replicating them to Agents. While configuring Distribution Server, kindly ensure that both Distribution Server and Central Server are able to communicate with each other.
When to use Distribution Server
Distribution server acts as a communication layer between your remote office computers and the DEX Manager Plus server. It replicates the scripts or workflows from the DEX Manager Plus server and gives it to the computers in that remote office. The remote office computers, instead of getting the scripts or workflows individually from the DEX Manager Plus server, gets it from the Distribution server, thus saving your WAN bandwidth. So, it is ideal to use a Distribution Server, if you have a limited WAN bandwidth and if you can afford to keep a dedicated computer which should be always running, to serve as the Distribution server. We recommend Distribution server when you manage more than 10 computers in your remote office.
- Efficient bandwidth usage
- Retrieves scripts and workflows, making them available to other computers in the branch.
- Secure communication is supported via SSL/HTTPS with the Central Server.
- One-time installation, with future upgrades being automatically handled.
This setup streamlines the management of remote office computers while minimizing network load.
This method is ideal for remote offices or locations with limited WAN bandwidth where numerous computers need to be managed, particularly for large branch offices with many computers, ensuring efficient bandwidth usage.
Comparison Matrix
Comparison matrix for Direct Communication and through the Distribution Server for different aspects.
| Aspect | Direct Communication | Through Distribution Server |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | Local offices or small offices with sufficient bandwidth / Less than 50 computers | Remote/branch offices with limited WAN bandwidth or large numbers of computers (more than 50) |
| Setup Complexity | Simple, no intermediary server needed | Requires setting up a Distribution Server in each remote office |
| Bandwidth Usage | High, as each device connects directly to the Central Server | Optimized, as only the Distribution Server communicates with the Central Server |
Remote Office Movement
Managing the devices of the sales and marketing teams is a challenging task for an IT administrator. This is because people in these teams tend to be traveling around the country and even the globe to other branch offices or to an event. Tracking their devices and maintaining compliance in situations like this can be a tricky process. However, using Remote Office movement capabilities supported in DEX Manager Plus, those computers can be tracked and managed efficiently under the appropriate Remote Offices. To know how to move remote office click here.
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