Author: Eric Vasbinder
As of today, there are two primary mechanisms for customers to connect to cloud-hosted Vista: Vista Remote Link (VRL) and Remote Desktop Published Apps (RDP). Both of these methods have their own distinctive advantages and differences as detailed more specifically in this FAQ article: What are the differences for the end user between RDP and Vista Remote Link (VRL)? RDP vs. VRL
As you may have noticed, VRL is our preferred method for connecting end users to Vista hosted in our cloud; it is our future. However, customer end users often comment about the differences between performance of our RDP method vs. VRL. This is directly related to the architectural differences between VRL and RDP: with VRL, the rich client runs in the customer network, often thousands of miles from the database, where as with RDP, the client runs right on top of the database in the same single tenant environment. See here for more information about the architectural differences between the two solutions: Architecture of VRL vs. RDP
Simply put, operations that take place solely on the local workstation will perform much faster in VRL in our cloud vs. RDP. Operations that take place only on the Vista app server or database should perform the same in both VRL and RDP. Conversely, any operation that uses back and forth communication between the rich client and the app server or database will be slower in VRL than in RDP. This will always be true.
Depending on the distance your data travels (i.e. latency), assuming the same versions of Vista, VRL in our cloud will, as a rule, always be slower than RDP in our cloud. Viewpoint's RDP cloud solutions are the fastest way to experience many Vista operations because the client is sitting on top of the database. As such, if a customer compares version 2020R2 of Vista, running on-premise, vs. the same version of Vista running over VRL in our cloud, that customer will find VRL to be slower than on-premise.
HOWEVER, for many releases now, Viewpoint has been improving the performance of Vista overall from version to version, through the successful Speed Demon initiatives. As such, if you compare the performance of Vista version 6.14, running on-premise, vs. Vista 2020R2, running in our VRL cloud, you will find that they are much closer in performance. Thus, the proper comparison to make is to compare the performance you had when running Vista 6.14 on-premise LAN vs. Vista 2020R2 VRL Cloud.
All of that said, there are still some workflows where VRL will perform better than RDP even when performing a comparison with the same version of Vista.
Here are some examples of when each method will perform better:
Page Splitter: Dragging a PDF on to the Page Splitter form and using it to split out subsequent PDF child files on to Vista records or to your local workstation.
Printing: Loading printer lists into the Vista rich client will always be faster since the client is located (usually) on the same network, in the same building as all of the network printers.
Scanning: Scanning directly in to the Vista rich client will be faster and more straight-forward with the scanner and the Vista client on the same workstation.
PR Timecard Data Entry, AP Line Item Entry, PO Line Item Entry: These workflows contain the use of multiple, chatty, back and forth validations between the rich client and the Vista database. Remember, with VRL, these round trips need to travel many times further geographically compared to RDP: with VRL the client is at your local workstation, and with RDP it is at your As such, when using VRL, these operations are markedly slower compared to RDP.
Viewpoint highly recommends modernizing your workflow processes first, prior to resorting to RDP use. By using our former Keystyle products, HR Portal, Field Management, and Financial Controls, to perform these workflows, you can improve satisfaction overall. Remember, these products provide web-browser based extensions to Vista and as such perform much faster than VRL for these data entry items. For example, if you begin using Field Management for time keeping, you will not only speed up data entry, you will democratize the act of time entry, allowing staff in the field to fill out their own timecards, increasing efficiencies and reducing error from manual re-keying of time data.
Ledger Updates: In some cases, we have found ledger updates to be faster with RDP.
Workcenters: Using PM and Accounting workcenters for interaction is usually faster with RDP.
For much more detail on performance in Vista, concentrated on data entry, please see the following FAQ page: Are there any times when VRL might be slower than RDP? Anything that stands out? Any workarounds?
Though VRL is the way of our future, and we continue to improve performance with VRL as well as Vista overall from version to version, there are a few scenarios overall when RDP is preferred regardless of performance.
Here are a few examples of those workflows and user situations where RDP would be a better choice than VRL:
Users with high latency connections (e.g. above 60 ms) - "Satellite Internet in the middle of no-where"
Performance would always suffer in this situation over VRL, regardless of the enhancements we continue to make to Vista.
How to test network performance from your location: How do I know if my network can handle hosting Vista in your cloud? What are your network standards?
Customers with users running alternative operating systems on their workstations (e.g. macOS or Linux) should set up one of the two methods to handle the needs for those users:
Windows Virtual Machines on those workstations for each end user
You, as the customer, can also either set up an Azure Virtual Desktop or an RDP Terminal server internally for exposure to users of Alternative OSes
More information about alternative OS usage: How can I use Vista in your cloud if I'm on an Apple Mac or Linux? (Alternative OS)
Satellite internet providers, such as Hughes, Starlink, Dish Network, DirecTV, and Viasat, can be very effective at providing access to Internet in locations that would be next to impossible to find connectivity otherwise. Remote locations, such as forestry roads, farm country, oil slopes in Alaska or Canada, and more can be easily connected to the Internet through the use of these services. However, these services come with significant downsides in terms of network performance and latency.
There is no escaping the reality of physics: when connected over satellite Internet your network traffic will need to be transmitted from the surface of the earth to a satellite orbiting the earth sometimes thousands of miles away, then transmitted from the satellite back down to the surface of the earth, proceed to the destination machine, and then returned by the same circuitous route from the earth to the satellite and back to the earth at your location again. This can sometimes result in network latencies as high as 120-300 ms or higher.
Satellite Internet connectivity is only supported for RDP terminal services deployment models and will never be officially supported for VRL.
Please note, even with RDP, application performance over a satellite Internet connection will be less than over a supported hard wired connection.
tl;dr: For the most part, VRL will work great for most users. The performance slowdowns you will see will take Vista back to something most users are familiar with: Vista 6.14/6.15. In addition, the usability advantages with VRL (allowing for drag and drop from local workstations, integration to local Microsoft Office apps, easier printing and scanning, etc.) more than make up for slower performance. That said, for a few users in your organization, you may find that their workflows are so tied to rapid data entry that RDP is necessary to be used until you can modernize your workflows to move to our web extensions to Vista (HFF). Please test your workflows in your new cloud environment, and reach out to your Viewpoint representative if you have any additional questions.
Friday, 08 September 2023 at 08:15PM:
Added in section about satellite internet not being supported for VRL.
Tuesday, 21 June 2022 at 02:37PM
updated to show that Alternative OSes are no longer sufficient justification to use RDP. End users can install and use Vista on Virtual Machines or the customer may set up Azure Virtual Desktops or RDP.
Updated: Tuesday, 06 April 2021 at 12:58PM