Running a program on multiple PCs

Question

I have some of the basic coding down for the program but I do need assistance with something. My goal is to have an alarm go off on multiple PCs in a network indicating that a certain task needs done. Anyone who receives this alarm may stop it, complete the task and log that they did that. What would be the best way to accomplish this in a network? But not every computer in the network will be running this program, just a few.

Answer 1

You could have the application (which runs on some computers in the network) register to participate in a Multicast address. This would allow the machines in the network to exchange data without the need for a central server.

More information:

IP Multicasting: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multicast

Multicasting in C#: (CodeProject) http://www.codeproject.com/KB/IP/multicast.aspx

Example project: http://www.nmsl.cs.ucsb.edu/MulticastSocketsBook/csharp_send_receive.zip

You would have the program that generates the alarm send out a multicast message containing all the information required by the other computers to handle the task.

The computers who can execute the job send back a message and the alarm application then decides which "client" will eventually execute the task by sending that client a "go ahead and do it" message. Only then the "client" application would actually perform the task and report back when it's finished.

Just an idea.

Answer 2

you can have a process listen on the other PCs on a socket, which triggers the alarm.
http://www.devarticles.com/c/a/C-Sharp/Socket-Programming-in-C-sharp-Part-II/1/

Answer 3

You could also make a web page on the management server where the visiting users can register for alarms. This would mean that you develop and distribute to one computer instead of x number of computers. The alarm would then go off in your web browser, where the users would also respond.

Answer 4

In a corporate environment (or possibly some schools), this is a very common IT problem. You'd use their IT deployment/policy enforcement software to distribute the program.

If you're in control of your network environment, then distribute it however seems fit. An intranet web page where you subscribe to alerts makes sense, as Patrick answered.

Doing a push across the network seems unreliable, and would definitely anger IT staff if you ever moved your program into a less friendly network :) Plus, it simply is the wrong model for the job if your network is the internet.