Remote Desktop alternatives

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MooPoo

251 posts

Ultimate Geek

#69518 9-Oct-2010 21:46

Hi

My work computers need to connect to our main servers in a different city and we run programs on our machines that reside on the other servers.

Currently they use remote desktop to accomplish this but it is crappy most of the time. We have problems with printers not being available etc on the network.

Is there an alternative (preferably free and easy to establish) that does the same or better job as remote desktop to create our VPN?

I know I am vague but am trying not to give away any info on the organisation as I am only an employee.

They probably wont listen to me if I find a better solution, but I will put it to them anyway.

Im not a tech or anything so I am not knowledgeable in much of this area.

Thanks for any help.

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muppet

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#389991 9-Oct-2010 21:50

OpenVPN? Free, Open Source, runs on multiple platforms.

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billgates

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#389992 9-Oct-2010 21:50

our servers are also offsite. we rdp onto them everyday and the programs run fine. no rdp or printer mapping issues.

what's your office's connection speed? what about server's connection speeds?

Do whatever you want to do man.

richms

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#389999 9-Oct-2010 22:14

RDP can be crap if the connection is crap, but when it works, its fine for business apps that dont have crap moving and fading and use non standard input methods so that your typing and clicking get mucked up (i'm looking at you firefox...)

I would look at the connections as being at fault. The only other alternative I am aware of that leaves the app on the server and gives you control is citrix, and that means money.

Be glad you are not using VNC instead of remote desktop - that is a laggy unusable piece of crap even on a lan to the server.

Richard rich.ms

muppet

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#390000 9-Oct-2010 22:15

richms: Be glad you are not using VNC instead of remote desktop - that is a laggy unusable piece of crap even on a lan to the server.

If that's the case, you're something very, very wrong.

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ZollyMonsta

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#390006 9-Oct-2010 22:22

Logmein.com

I use hamachi for VPN shared drives and logmeinfree for remote desktop. I also have logmein ignition on iPhone so can remote in while out and about.

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MooPoo

251 posts

Ultimate Geek

#390010 9-Oct-2010 22:40

richms: RDP can be crap if the connection is crap,

I would look at the connections as being at fault.

Hmm well we do use Telecom for our internet connection so that could be the problem.

Im not privvy to any info further than we use them so I couldnt tell any more about speeds etc.

I have noticed though that there are times we get brown outs etc.

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MooPoo

251 posts

Ultimate Geek

#390012 9-Oct-2010 22:46

I dont know if it makes a difference but I forgot to mention the servers we connect to are running windows server 2003

raytaylor

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#390038 10-Oct-2010 03:19

If it is server 2003, then it is most likley a terminal server - which uses the RDP protocol (remote desktop protocol)
An alternative is citrix, except that the RDP system is based on citrix.

VNC, Logmein and the others wont help because they dont support multiuser environments. A VPN wont help because that only gives you network / file access, not remote access to the server interface and gui.

With printers not mapping- you have to have the same driver and version as what is installed on your client pc, as well as the server. To make this easier, i tell people to buy brother multifunction or laser printers because you can just download the Microsoft certified driver for server 2003 and install it on your xp etc clients.

Even better is to use a network printer, install it as a local printer on the server and set it to use an LPD or RAW port with a port foward in your remote office modem to the remote printer.
You can use the add/remove control panel applet to install the print services for unix and use a local printer attached to an XP workstation as a network printer from the server. That means that the print job doesnt have to traverse the RDP protocol.

If a user logs on to a terminal server, and it doesnt have a printer driver installed, then it will write an event to the system event log on the server giving them the name and model of the printer.

RDP is incredibly fast and reliable. Before you connect, click the options >> button and select
Display - 256 colours or 15bit - dont use 16/24/32 bit
Sound - Dont play remote sound
Connection speed - set it to 56k even if you are on a high speed connection

If RDP is not working, then there is something wrong with your connection. Like I said, it is really fast and bandwidth efficient far beyond any other protocol like VNC.
So if it isnt working - it is definitley the connection. A packet loss of more than 2 or 3% will give you noticable lag and delays.

Send this to your administrators and they may find it helpful.
http://www.managemore.com/faq/faq-ts.htm - see q1 section 2 and 3

Also tell them to do a packet loss test between your office and theirs and try to work out where the loss is. It could also be a high ping - try to have both offices with the same ISP. Use a wireless isp if you are in the same town.
I had one client who was with telecom at both their offices. Was a 200ms ping between Napier and Hastings and the keyboard to screen response was too slow. So we spent $10,000 and put up a wireless network and now the ping is down to 30ms and its instant and fast.

Ray Taylor

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muppet

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#390085 10-Oct-2010 09:49

If you're going to try and troubleshoot the network, the first thing to check is that large packets are getting through. That is, make sure MTU is working end-to-end.

Audiophiles are such twits! They buy such pointless stuff: Gold plated cables, $2000 power cords. Idiots.

OOOHHHH HYPERFIBRE!

3g

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Ultimate Geek
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#390111 10-Oct-2010 11:42

I previously disliked RDP (screen resolutions, printer problems etc) until I got a good RDP client.

The standard Microsoft client is "ok", but if you're dealing with multiple machines, it's pretty weak. From memory there is also a console plugin for managing multiple RDP connections, but it is also a bit weak.

We now use RoyalTS which has made life much easier.
http://code4ward.net/main/

It's free (allowing you to store connection details for up to 10 machines?), but even the paid for version is cheap - especially when you consider the productivity gain.

Nigel H.