Vnc server linux

Take Control of the Computer's Console With Ultr@VNC

How many times have you been sure you could get the problem solved faster if you could just get your hands on the console? Instead you are stuck wearing a headset walking another person through the "fix it" process. Obviously you are aware of ways to do this with products such as PC Anywhere, Citrix, etc. However, have you looked at Ultr@VNC? It's free and it's good.

Ultr@VNC is created by the Ultr@VNC Team at Source Forge (ultravnc.sourceforge.net0. Like similar software products it allows you to take control of other desktops or servers and actually see and type as if you were right at the console. Installation is a snap and I usually take the time to walk someone through the installation process if I think I can shorten the support time by using it. Even remote reboots are possible.

And it's fast! Oh baby, this isn't your manager's VNC. Ultr@VNC supports SSL and refreshes nicely even over WAN connections. Imagine if most if not all of the computers in your company had something like this loaded on it. Your help desk and customers will appreciate the ability to "just fix it" without having to walk or bicycle over to work on the system.

The Five Minute Fix

Ultr@VNC is the latest in the series of open source Virtual Network Computing (VNC) applications. The software consists of a "server" version which resides on the machine being remotely controlled and a "viewer" application which is used by the person doing the controlling. The first version was released in 1998 by the AT&T Laboratories at Cambridge University and an update is available under the RealVNC moniker. That version supports about 30 different operating system versions including Unix, Windows, Lindows and Mac. Over 20 million copies of the software have been downloaded and it has also been included with several Linux releases.

In addition to the original, there are about a dozen other VNC flavors including TightVNC (www.tightvnc.com) for Windows and Unix, PalmVNC 2.0 (palmvnc2.free.fr) for hand helds, and a RISC client VNC viewer (www.bigblue.emon.co.uk/VNC.html). No matter which version you choose, however, the best place to get an overview of VNC is over at the RealVNC site (www.realvnc.com). Go there and click on the "What Is It?" and "Documentation" links over on the left column.

So, with so many choices, why should you go with Ultr@VNC? Well, I have been using VNC for years, and this is the best implementation I have seen so far, incorporating the premier features from many of the other VNC releases. Its core functionality is based on RealVNC, it takes its smart cursor handling and encoding from TightVNC, it has the toolbar used with VNC QuickDesk and it incorporates other special functions from eSVNC and Vdacc-VNC.

Of course these features do add to its size. The RealVNC Win32 viewer is a 228K executable file while the Ultr@VNC installation file rolls in a 1620 MB. The viewer is a 680KB executable and the server version is 608KB. Dll's and other files add to the size of the package. But given a high speed connection and a PC that's been built within the past few years, the size difference isn't enough to create a performance problem.

Downloading over a DSL connection and installing the software took under five minutes (not counting the time to read the license and Read Me file) so it is something that you can do in the middle of a support session to get matters resolved quickly. just select the language (English, French, Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese, Italian or German), tell where to install it, which version to install (server or viewer) and away you go. By default it will put an Ultr@VNC icon on the desktop to launch the application, but clicking on a box during setup removes the icon.

The software automatically discovers the connection speed between the server and viewer and adjusts the display quality accordingly so that a dial-up connection doesn't render the interaction agonizingly slow. Users can also bypass that and manually select from five different connection speeds and they can size the display so it is either full screen or sits in a box on the desktop.

Zoom, Zoom, Zoom

There are a lot of great new features with Ultr@VNC. It supports Microsoft security functions and Active Directory. It has instant messaging between the server and viewer. It accepts encryption plug ins. It has an imbedded file transfer function to send files between the computers. Many different things that make it easier to support remote users.

But, in my opinion, the best feature is the speed it provides. There is nothing worse (well actually there are a few things worse) than trying to move the mouse pointer on a remote PC without being able to see in real time what is occurring at the other end. Well, Ultr@VNC uses a new Video Hook Driver for Windows 2000/XP that, when the connection is good, provides you hundreds of screen updates per second. This gives you nearly the same feeling as operating your own workstation.

The major drawback is that version 1.0.0 RC11d, which was just released in February, is only available for Windows (9x/NT4/ Me/2000/XP) at this time. If you are looking at supporting other operating systems, you will have to wait.

I'm sure you have heard at one time or another that "You get what you pay for," and sometimes that is true. But, before you start believing that old saying applies to software, be sure to consider another one: "The best things in life are free." When it comes to Ultr@VNC, the second saying is closer to the truth. It compares well to many paid software utilities with similar functionality. Remember, we only use about 20 percent of the functionality we are buying. I'm sure many of us can remember saying to ourselves after a very expensive meal at an overpriced restaurant: "I could have eaten a better meal at a fast food restaurant." The same can be true when it comes to software.