On Dec 6, 2007 5:05 PM, Robert Moskowitz rgm@htt-consult.com wrote:
I have been dragging my feet on remote display, and have just gotten VNC going to have SOMETHING to move off the start line. But I need the 'best' for different situations, so I want to rate them.
1 to 3 where 1 is the 'best' for the catagory and 3 the loser.
VNC RDESKTOP FREENXServer memory Server cpu client memory client cpu bandwidth
thanks. I AM search the net for this information. So far have not found the magic query request :)
There are numerous ways to remotely access a Linux machine, and honestly the "remote desktop" style that Windows uses is the worst of them. VNC, rdesktop, and freenx all replicate that method of access, where you basically get a picture of what would be on the monitor if you were sitting at it.
As was already mentioned, ssh is really the main way for remote access, but for people not familiar with Linux, there's no GUI and no mouse beyond copy/paste, so you may look for another solution.
The real *NIX way of accessing a graphical application remotely is by using a remote X desktop. It sounds strange if you're not familiar with it, but basically you run the 1 application on the remote server, and the application window (and only the application window), shows up on your local workstation. SSH provides a way to do this securely. The drawback is you will need an X server running on your local computer, but that can be had for free in Windows from cygwin.
Having stepped your foot in all of that now, the simplest GUI to get working is the vnc/freenx style of remote access. I have only used VNC, and it works well enough, but I hear good things about freenx. If you go the VNC route, make sure to set up a firewall to block direct access to the vnc port, and only access it through ssh forwarding, as vnc is not secure by itself.