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How can I use two pc's for one user

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by radioleft

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It seems no matter how big and fast my pc is, it still gets slowed down by all the stuff it has to do.

I'm thinking that it would be great to have a second pc that runs as a background processor.

If you're not quite sure what I am talking about, read on...

I wouldn't access the background computer via keyboard and mouse except for configuration and maintenance.

I'm looking for software that might do this, suggestions from anyone who might have done this, and any gotcha's -- of which I'll bet there are many.

If I were to set this up without any suggestions from other or software to assist, I think I would set up the second computer to do things like:

1. Set the background computer to run the backup software.

2. Set the background computer to do the indexing on the main computer for searches, etc. (I think I could do this by setting the background computer to only index the main computer disks and then setting the main computer to not index (as opposed to disabling indexing).

3. Receive email for outlook (I guess this would require installing Outlook on both computers, "pointing" the background computer to the pst files on the main computer and set it to do the send and receives - Then set the outlook on the main computer to never automatically send and receive.

4. What else??

THERE IS A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT APPROACH:

That would be to simply run some applications on one computer and some on the main computer. This would require a level of integration that I have not seen:

Being able to drag an item from one desktop to the desktop on the other computer.

IT SEEMS TO ME that using one computer as a background processor would be easier to manage than having a desktop for each computer and dragging stuff back and forth.

9 replies

by dumphrey

building a cluster. Would love to help you there but its out of my league. Windows server Enterprise can cluster I think. Else its linux.

by radioleft

Installing windows server to create a cluster goes beyond what I am willing to do.

I was hoping that I would find something that goes beyond hardware and software KWM switches - but is intended for a desktop user.

by robo_dev

A lot of what you describe is what Intel or AMD dual-core processors do....

Also there are some neat software solutions for controlling multiple PCs with one monitor/keyboard/mouse.

Kavoom
http://www.kavoom.biz/

Synergy
http://synergy2.sourceforge.net/

You CAN cut and paste between computers with Synergy. Plus it's free.

Hardware KVM:
At home I have two keyboards/mice/displays and four PCs. Three of the PCs are on one KVM, and the fourth is on it's own.

by radioleft

I've been using dual processor computers since I bought a dual pentium 600 and had a hard time finding components to work with it since it was so new.

My main computer is a dual processor (not dual core) AMD (4Gig RAM) with a dual head video card. My second computer is an older dual processor Intel (1.5Gig Ram).

Both have 10,000RPM SCSI drives.

Even so, Windows likes to freeze and be unresponsive quite often.

I have a kwm switch and all that does is give me 2 pcs with one monitor / keyboard / mouse - but 2 functionally separate pc's netorked together.

I did find synergy after I posted. That does allow drag and drop from screen on one computer to screen on other computer.

I want to make the use of the second computer to be as transparent as possible.

In my mind, the lowest level of functionality would be to have Outlook and Open Office on one computer and everything else on the main computer - then use Synergy (or whatever).

I could also put the backup and archiving software on the second computer.

If a hardware or software KWM with drag and drop between the two computers is the best I can do, I can set that up right now.

BUT, I am hoping for a more integrated approach that makes the whole thing more transparent. If it doesn't exist, oh well.

by the scummy one

the HW KVM has many features less than a SW KVM.
I would look into this approach, as it may be able to do some of the things that you want to.

Aside from that, I do not know of any SW that will do what you want. If the SW was available, it likely would not be cheap, or used by many.

by radioleft

I've been looking at Maxi-Vista and Synergy.

According to their descriptions, neither of them will allow you to drag an item from the desktop on one machine to the desktop on the other machine.

FTP software can be used to drag and drop files within the ftp client window.

I wonder if there's an FTP client that will allow you to drag from one pc desktop to another pc desktop instead of having to use the ftp window to do it?

COME TO Think of it:

You could put a shortcut on computer A mapped to the desktop of computer B and the inverse on computer B. Then on computer B, when you drop something on the computer A shortcut. it would be copied to the desktop of cmputer A.

That plus the functionality of a software KVM switch may be the best I can do.

by thumbsup2

Remoting into another computer is fairly easy, already available and allows dragging and dropping between them, if you set it up right.

by vsmith3rd

I believe the OP is asking for a setup that allows load balancing between processors. If that is the case, I think its not possible without Linux/Windows 2003 clustering. I'm a total noob, so don't put any weight to my thoughts. I see that the post is nearly a year old, but if anyone has a solution, I'm curious too.

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