iFolder

 and is part of their Nterprise Linux Services product. More information 

can be found at:

http://www.novell.com/products/ifolder

Another possibility is to use the rsync protocol for this purpose. rsync is a 

powerful open source Linux utility that could be used for incremental file transfer. 

Used with the right options, it can fulfill the demand of syncing local and remote 

folders. As it builds checksums of the files and transfers only the missing parts, it 

can do this transfer very effectively over small bandwidth connections. The Web 

site of rsync is:

http://samba.anu.edu/rsync

By using rsync, you can develop a client/server file synchronization tool that 

could be run as both a scheduled or user triggered service on notebook 

computers. But it is recommended that you develop a user friendly wrapper (or 

client side script) that controls this process, and thus hides complexity from the 

end user.

4.7  Unmigratable applications

This section discusses issues related to applications that cannot be migrated to 

run directly on a Linux client. We propose alternate ways to support these 

applications for access from a Linux client.

We assume that the number of unmigratable applications is small and that a 

small percentage of end users are using these applications. If this is not the 

case, then the case for the client migrations has to be reconsidered.

4.7.1  What makes an application unmigratable

We define an application as unmigratable when one or more of the following 

statements about the application are true:

A Linux version of the application or an alternative application does not exist.

Porting the application to Linux is not feasible.

License issues make a move to Linux impossible or highly expensive.

Once an application is designated as unmigratable there are several ways to 

migrate to a Linux client and solve the issues around this application:

Investigate whether the application can run on a Windows server and be used 

through remote access mechanisms such as a Terminal Server, Citrix 

Metaframe, NoMachine, etc.

 Chapter 4. Technical planning 

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