Host considerations:

Host physical location

If possible, place the host in a secure area, where only authorized people have access to it.

It is highly recommended to place the host in a ventilated area. A computer with a large power supply unit and several video cards generates excessive heat that must be discharged out of the computer case.

Host networking options

The most basic option is to have a stand-alone host PC that may or may not have a LAN/Internet connection.

If you have a home or an office network, configure the Microsoft network settings on the host PC.

If the host PC is a member of an Active Directory Domain, configure the host and users in the domain level.

Workstations considerations

USB and monitor cabling

Under standard working conditions, you may stretch out the distances of cable based deployment (USB and VGA), from the SoftXpand host PC to the workstations, with up to 20 meters / 65 feet cable length, between the host to any workstation.

USB cabling and hubs

The 20m cable length limit is subject to USB cable length limitations (up to 5 meters per one cable) and Windows XP USB device-chain limitations (up to 5 hubs/active-extender-cables including the computer’s USB port). Other wireless solutions exist and could be implemented if needed. Consult your SoftXpand vendor.

USB input devices that will be positioned next to the SoftXpand host may be connected directly to the host’s back or front panels’ USB ports.

For a distance of more than 5 meters, place a 4-port self-powered USB hub at the end point next to each workstation. This way every user will be able to connect additional devices (Sound device, printer, Flash drive, etc) to each workstation.

Do not continue a USB chain to other workstations from a workstation’s end point USB hub. All end point workstation hubs should be the last in their chain.

Monitor cabling

For using standard monitor resolution (800X600, 1024X768) you may extend VGA cables to up to 25 meters. Using extra shielded cables, with multi-coax construction, may give a sharp, clear display on higher resolution over longer distances.

Many dual head video cards have one VGA (analog) output port and one DVI-I (Integrated, digital and analog) output port.

DVI cables are more expensive than VGA cables and also may be extended to shorter distances (up to 5m).

Therefore, it is advised to connect a DVI-to-VGA adapter to the video card’s DVI port and to use VGA cables.

A 4 workstation monitor cabling diagram:

Best practice

Stabilize all cables and USB hubs in order to avoid future problems/down-time that may be caused by users’ activity.

A diagram example of a 6-Workstation SoftXpand Cluster

The below diagram illustrates a 6-Workstation SoftXpand Cluster. The computer (1) has a Windows XP (and SP2 or above) and three dual-head video cards (8) installed. Each of the available VGA (9) and DVI (10) ports connects to one of the 6 monitors (5) via a VGA (16) or DVI (17) cable.

Each monitor is part of a user's independent Workstation which also includes a keyboard (6), a mouse (7) and (optional) a set of earphones (22) or earphone with attached microphone (23) connected to a USB sound device (21). Apart from one workstation utilizing the PS2 (14) and onboard sound card (15) ports all components in each of these sets are connected to a self-powered (20) USB HUB (19) which, in turn, is connected to the SoftXpand computer via a USB cable (18) plugged into the computer's USB ports (12).

This ‘How to’ document is targeted at guiding you on how to perform a specific SoftXpand task/setting.

In order to obtain a broader perspective of the functions and settings of SoftXpand, refer to the appropriate SoftXpand guide or document in MiniFrame Knowledge base at: http://www.miniframe.com/knowledge-base.html.