Thanks for the info.  Now back to serialization, I am trying to use the SerializeToByteArray but it is not working for me, I have the feeling my code is not correct, here is  my approach:

' Serialize the BO into a ByteArray
Dim pszOutByte As System.Byte()
pszOutByte = Me.bizConnectedClients1.SerializeToByteArray

' DeSerialize the BO from a ByteArray
Dim loBO As New bizConnectedClients
BusinessLayer.DeserializeBusinessObject(e.TextB)
Me.BizConnectedClients1.CopyDataFrom(loBO, BusinessCloneDataType.ClearAndFillFromDefaultView)
loBO.Dispose()

In above code e.TextB contain the serialized BO byte stream. When testing this I get the following error when trying to Deserialize the BO:

SerializationException
  The input stream is not a valid binary format. The starting contents (in bytes) are: 34-31-36-32-32-34-36-33-0D-0A-54-65-73-74-20-4F-6E ...
Source     : System.Windows.Forms
Stack Trace: 
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.EndInvoke(IAsyncResult asyncResult)
   at nsoftware.IPWorks.Ipport.nsoftware.core.IIpportEvents.FireDataIn(Byte[] text, Boolean EOL)

What is it that I am missing here?

And you will need to type is as well.  So it would look more like this:

Just a note to say thanks again.  So far I was able to create my version of a Server Console and a Server Service using the IP*Works library from www.nsoftware.com and the book for Windows Services suggested by Greg in this thread.

This has been a great experience working outside of just the database process, using secured XML files managed by the SF Business Object to store the Server Settings information and using a ListView with all the goodies of the SF BO to show connected clients without saving any data to a database, this whole process shows once again the power in the SF framework.

On a side note, I was having a lot of trouble with the IP*Works and sending the BO as a byte array, despite Trent's support replies I could not make it work to a satisfactory level, so I decided to simply use a predefined string which I then parsed and it worked just great.

Thanks guys!

We do allow it if the server cannot be automatically located.  We use a UDP boradcast from the client if it cannot connect t the server.  The server is listening on that UDP port and sends out a UDP broadcast of its location to which the client will retrieve the servers location and login.  You can find a lot of samples on the internet about this.  I did a quick serach and found some CodeProject samples.  Here is a chart sample that uses a UDP broadcast.

http://www.codeproject.com/KB/IP/socketsincs.aspx?fid=2956&df=90&mpp=25&noise=3&sort=Position&view=Quick&select=1070795