Remote access solutions I use the most
I recently got asked what types of remote access solutions I like the best. Now I have tried almost all of them - RDP, VNC, TeamViewer, LogmeIn etc.
I used to install VNC (Especially UltraVNC) almost everywhere I go, but hated the fact that I had to open up ports in the firewall all the time. Plus I found that VNC was sometimes slow and cumbersome to use.
I then started using Teamviewer however the earlier versions of this didn’t allow a permanent connection. In other words, the customer had to click on a button to allow the connection each time, which made late night support impossible. They have since fixed this and have a permanent solution.
Which brings me to Remote Desktop and LogMeIn. I usually setup at least both of these connection methods. However out of the both of them, I find that LogMeIn is by far superior.
Remote Desktop is a Microsoft technology that is similar to Citrix etc. It basically allows a fast connection from any Windows or OSX computer to another computer which is either running Windows Server with Terminal Services or even a basic Windows XP Professional PC on up.
The main reason I don’t use it as much as LogMeIn is that it never gives you true console level access. Instead you simply connection to the host PC as a “session”. It also means that if a customer has 20 machines connected to their network, I have to enable RDP on each and remember all the details.
LogMeIn on the other hand makes it easy to install the client software, and to have a bird’s eye view of all the machines attached to your user account. So you can effectively jump from PC to PC easily without knowing IP addresses, port numbers or anything. This makes it easy to do it when you are not on your regular PC or on the road for instance.
LogMeIn works through most browsers via a plugin, so again can be used anywhere you have access to a PC and the Internet.
The free version gives you an unlimited account however the paid accounts offer things such as Chat and File Transfers between your PC and the remote.
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OSX, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, Remote Access
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