[CentOS-virt] WinXP Xen guest: compare VNC vs RDP

Wed Apr 22 23:42:20 UTC 2009
Manuel Wolfshant <wolfy at nobugconsulting.ro>

On 04/23/2009 02:19 AM, Ed Heron wrote:

>> - rdesktop ( the linux app) is really cool, as it allows you to
>> share/transfer local resources to the remote XP session (for instance
>> you can map a local directory as a remote networked disk, without the
>> hassle of passing via Network Neigh.). VNC forces you to either
>> explicitly map such resources (hence you would also need something like
>> samba on the linux side) or use scp.
>>     
>
>   Either way, I won't be having local resources.  Trying to keep it simple.
>   
Well, if you can implement a LTSP-like solution, good for you. In my 
case all users already had local linux workstations running C5, the XP 
was needed only for a couple  of proprietary applications and  for a 
limited period of time. The problem came from the fact that despite 
using what I call pretty decent hw, most of the users did not have 
hardware capable of doing full virt but we had to start the project 
really FAST ( The software supplier informed me that the proprietary 
applications cannot run on linux the very day the project started, 
despite doing 3 months of preparations for the project). Basically I had 
no choice but create VMs on a server with spare resources (which 
happened to be in another city than the users). Your use case is 
different :)


>> - the only problem with RDP is that by default Windows limits the number
>> of simultaneous connections. but patches do exist (which violate the
>> licensing/usage terms, so beware).
>>     
>
>   I am interested in the multiple connections allowed with VNC for support 
> type console sharing.  When connected with RDP, the console of the VM has a 
> login screen, so you can't use VNC to the console at the same time as a RDP 
> connection...
>   
It's not really like you describe it. With the proper patch, several 
different RDP users can share the VM, just as an 2003 server would do 
for more money. In our case, this was important because - at least in 
the beginning of the project - the number of simultaneous users exceeded 
the number of available VMs
As of VNC sharing the console .. I am not sure what are you speaking 
about. As far as I know, VNC is quite reluctant to share a single 
desktop with several users, unless the connections are R/O. And in a LAN 
the speed is acceptable, but via remote links VNC quickly becomes 
"unpleasant". If you go the VNC way, I strongly suggest to examine NX 
instead.


>> As of implementations issues .. I had two (or should I say three?) 
>> problems:
>> - one is detailed in an older thread on this list ( look for "Using the
>> parallel port from domU", 02/02/2009).
>>     
>
>   My printers are all network printers, yay!
>   
I have only networked printers, too, but in this case it was not about a 
printer but a hardware toy (ASIC development board).