Choosing the right remote access software, for example VNC or Microsoft remote desktop has been an age old discussion between myself, clients and collegues for years and to be perfectly truthful each product has its own advantages and disadvantages, however it usually mainly boils down to personal preference.
This article / blog entry is aimed at providing an impartial and fair analysis of the major products on the market, both free and premium alike. I am doing this for personal knowledge and to hopefully provide anybody else with the same answers.
I am going to analyse the software on 3 key points, which i will elaborate on later, these will be the following:
- Visual Access
- File Transfer
- Server software stability.
Visual Access - What i mean by this, is the software's ability to manipulate the clients screen, is the software slow and responsive when the mouse is clicked, or is it like being at the machine? Does the software repaint the screen successfully or does it have to be forced too refresh.
File Transfer - This pretty much explains itself, how well does the software facilitate in aiding the transfer of files to and from the remote machine. Some questions ill answer is how helpful is the gui interface, does it have extra features, is it responsive, does it aid the administration of servers and remote machines or hinder the process.
Server software stability - All remote access software, requires software to be installed on the remote server or pc, in this key point i will examine how well this works, and if in my experience it is prone to crashing or whether or not it is reliable and stable and thus alleviating the need of connecting via secondary remote access software.
Other Features - It would be unfair to compare products based on features that one may have to the other, however this may still provide a valid point when choosing the right remote access software for you, your company or client. It may be that you require file syncronisation or remote viewing of server logs, or other buttons or commands that may help in the process of administration remote servers and pc's.
VNC
Microsoft terminal services
LogMeIn
TightVNC
TeamViewer
GoToMyPc