VNC rules! Thanks to ViperGTS and all others that recommended it!

[MichaelD]

OK, so I spent $110 on a really nice KVM (IOGear GCS84A) that I opened up, but never hooked up.

I plan on holding onto it for awhile.

Anyway, per the recommendations of many astute fellow ATers, I DL'd VNC and installed it. It works perfectly. No BSODs (my biggest fear) no, screen stuttering (as long as you dont' try to game over VNC, which it's not designed for anyway) and no other maladies to speak of.

My only beef is that it is not intended for use by idiots, er, first-time users like ME, that don't know what the diff b/t "client mode" and "listen mode" are.

It would be nice if it came with a README that was lableled "How to setup VNC on your machines" and gave you a step by step. It does not.

But, but, but after about an hour of fiddling, setting the passwords, etc, I now can control my server and my second box from my main rig. I can run programs, browse, even shut down and restart, remotely! (Yes, I am a newb to this...let me be happy with my little thimblefull of knowledge, OK?)

The only catch is that the box you want to control must already be in a Windows environment (I know zilch about Unix/Pennix/Hystrenix or those other OS's you Wizards use) in order to control it.

IOW, if you must reboot the system remotely, the following conditions apply:\

1. You must be able to access the CTRL-ALT-DEL on the remote box
2. When it reboots, the box cannot have a BIOS password installed, b/c you can't "type it" over the LAN b/c the box isn't in Windoze already

Other than that, it really rocks. I have not explored all the options and tricks inside it yet....basically, it took me awhile to get it up and running to begin with but it rocks.

Takes up virtually no resources/CPU time while running...I couldn't be happier. Thanks guys.

 

[Ameesh]

if you run XP on allthose boxes you can remote desktop into them, thats how i do it.

 

[GermyBoy]

Why not try tightvnc.com for better compression and a lower cpu usage. You mght not see a diff on a router or something, but it kills vnc on dialup. Later!

 

[Adul]

vnc is hany to have

 

[XZeroII]

If you like VNC, you'll love TightVNC. TightVNC. It's even got a web client so you can access your computer from anywhere, and it has better compression.

 

[GermyBoy]

Originally posted by: XZeroII
If you like VNC, you'll love TightVNC. TightVNC. It's even got a web client so you can access your computer from anywhere, and it has better compression.

You should try glasses or contacts. Look two posts up.

Edit: For the purposes of explaining things to XZeroII, Look two posts up from YOUR post, or 3 from this one.

 

[StageLeft]

I think VNC also has a web client. I used TightVNC until after a while it would just stop working on all my machines I tried it on.

Eventually I turned to Remote Administrator 2.1 which I'm using now. It's only free for 30 days but my GOD it must be a million times faster than VNC. Even on a broadband connection VNC demonstrates significant lag and the lag in Radmin is a fraction of this.

 

[Czar]

it too you an hour to set up vnc?? *giggles*


btw, click on the top left icon when you connect to your computer, there is a thing there for "send ctrl+alt+del" and other combinations

 

[XZeroII]

Originally posted by: GermyBoy

Originally posted by: XZeroII
If you like VNC, you'll love TightVNC. TightVNC. It's even got a web client so you can access your computer from anywhere, and it has better compression.

You should try glasses or contacts. Look two posts up.

vnc is hany to have

???
What are you talking about?

 

[MichaelD]

Well, the whole reason I installed VNC is b/c I finally got my server up and running (going to load Guild FTP today, hopefully) and I wasn't sure where in my apartment (not that it's that big

) I was going to put the box. I wanted to be able to control the box remotely, w/o having to run 100-ft KVM cables to my KVM switch which was a waste of money after-all. hehehe.

 

[MichaelD]

Oh yeah; also, I wasn't really planning on ever accessing the boxes from the other side of the world...allthough it is nice to be able to do that.

 

[Viper GTS]

1. You must be able to access the CTRL-ALT-DEL on the remote box

This threw me for a little while too, but I believe I discovered since that it substitutes CTRL-ALT-INSERT...

Give it a shot.



Viper GTS

 

[aphex]

winVNC rocks.. I use it to work on my 4 rigs that i have runnin w/o monitors

 

[Hossenfeffer]

I'm using Remote Administrator. Might purchase a help desk license (Starts at 50 licenses, think that's $650) considering all the time it's saved me. Makes troubleshooting remotely a breeze and easy on the bandwidth.

 

[yakko]

I may have to try VNC.

 

[arod]

Originally posted by: Viper GTS
1. You must be able to access the CTRL-ALT-DEL on the remote box

This threw me for a little while too, but I believe I discovered since that it substitutes CTRL-ALT-INSERT...

Give it a shot.



Viper GTS

You can also right click on the window bar for ctrl-alt-del and other options.

 

[d33pt]

if you use win2k server... terminal services is much better than any of the above.

 

[d33pt]

also.. if you're using ANY ver of windows..netmeeting remote desktop sharing works well also

 

[TheWart]

yeah, VNC looks pretty cool, although i prefer ssh.

 

[MichaelD]

Wahh. Just when I thought I was entering the world of "The Cool People That Know Stuff" you guys start throwing out stuff that's cooler than what I just learned. Now, how unfair is that? j/k

I have heard that W2KS' Terminal Services is better, but unfortunately, I don't own a complete copy of W2KS, just a "trial copy" so I don't load it...what's the point? In 120 days, it goes tits-up.

Anyway, I currently have two VNC windows minimized on the bottom of my main rigs' toolbar; one for the server and the other for the second box. I have a lot of file transferring to do...see ya later guys.

 

[randomlinh]

(tight)vnc is definately a great little proggy... i'm lazy and it's quick and easy for me to check my boxes.

 

[DaiShan]

The only catch is that the box you want to control must already be in a Windows environment

Are you sure about this?

Straight from the website:

* It is truly platform-independent. A desktop running on a Linux machine may be displayed on a PC. Or a Solaris machine. Or any number of other architectures. The simplicity of the protocol makes it easy to port to new platforms. We have a Java viewer, which will run in any Java-capable browser. We have a Windows NT server, allowing you to view the desktop of a remote NT machine on any of these platforms using exactly the same viewer. (The NT server is not multi-user - see the documentation ). And other people have ported VNC to a wide variety of other platforms. Click the 'Contributed' button on the left for details.

I used VNC for a while, great little utility, from what I understand it was originally designed with ATM machines in mind, also it can be run from a floppy.

 

[MichaelD]

Originally posted by: DaiShan

The only catch is that the box you want to control must already be in a Windows environment

Are you sure about this?

Straight from the website:

* It is truly platform-independent. A desktop running on a Linux machine may be displayed on a PC. Or a Solaris machine. Or any number of other architectures. The simplicity of the protocol makes it easy to port to new platforms. We have a Java viewer, which will run in any Java-capable browser. We have a Windows NT server, allowing you to view the desktop of a remote NT machine on any of these platforms using exactly the same viewer. (The NT server is not multi-user - see the documentation ). And other people have ported VNC to a wide variety of other platforms. Click the 'Contributed' button on the left for details.

I used VNC for a while, great little utility, from what I understand it was originally designed with ATM machines in mind, also it can be run from a floppy.

Oh, I know it works with virtually any OS. I said "windows environment b/c that's the only OS's I run. All W2K Pro. I know I'm not cool; I don't know Unix/Linux/Uxux/Botox/etc

 

[kgraeme]

Congrats MichaelD. Welcome to the world of remote administration!

You mentioned Win2KServer Termninal Services, but just so you know, it's also built in to WinXP Pro. So as long as you're willing to put up with the WPA crap or get yourself an OpenLicense copy, then you're good to go with no additional configuration.

But hey, VNC works great and is cross-platform!

 

[Rakkis]

I've been using vanilla VNC for almost 2 years now. Just how secure is it?
What is a more security-oriented flavor that you guys have heard about?