Remote Desktop and my server.

[LeperousDust]

Whats the best port of call here in case i have to do this? I've got my SSH set up and working great so i'd hope i wouldn't need to, but you never know .

I was thinking TightVNC because thats what ive used before and i'd plan to just secure it if i'm away from home over SSH. But then i found echoVNC which apparently uses 128AES encryption if need be which seems to be quite handy.

So any recommendations, or advice before i balls this up too?

Also this is probably more aimed at Daz, but am i better using PowerShell with my SSH over the cmd? I assume PowerShell does everything it does and more anyway? And its essentially better and the future? Is PowerShell shipped with Home Server or Server 2003, or will i have to install it myself?

[Chuckles]

I'd just go with Microsoft RDP

I assume your server is windows based?

[LeperousDust]

It is, but i'm thinking remotely, is that a plan? I was also thinking but didn't write VNP then RDP, internally i can use whatever i wish i'm aware. I just want to make sure i'm not over exposing from outside otherwise.

[Chuckles]

RDP as 128bit encryption and as long as you haven't set your admin password to "fred" you should be ok

I have to access 1 mac server at work across the internet which has got VNC on and its totally crap (slow refresh etc) compared with RDP on windows servers.

[divine]

Originally Posted by starscream

as long as you haven't set your admin password to "fred" you should be ok

balls.


*goes and changes passwords*

[Burble]

RDP works very nicely over home and low bandwidth connections. From memory it works using lots of small packets whereas VNC likes a nice big 1500 byte packet and can be frustratingly slow.

I'd go for RDP - that's how I connect to my Windows VM's albeit over an SSH tunnel.

[leowyatt]

I know it's not RDP or VNC but I've been using the logmein.com site for remote management. Infact I'm using it now to post here. No problems with it and it's a breeze to setup.

[Daz]

Originally Posted by Burble

RDP works very nicely over home and low bandwidth connections. From memory it works using lots of small packets whereas VNC likes a nice big 1500 byte packet and can be frustratingly slow.

Indeed, and I'd agree, RDP > VNC when it comes to Windows. VNC can also a bit wobbly in terms of protocol vulnerabilities. I personally (like Burble) wouldn't expose it to the web though - it is still Windows. Set yourself up a VPN server of some description, VPN in, and RDP internally. That's what I do. Logmein is a nice, pretty slick solution, but I personally have issues with potentially giving third parties complete access to my machine. All it takes is a little site vulnerability at their end and who knows could get access.

As for powershell, it wont come installed, and it's nothing you need. It's nowhere near a general purpose shell yet (it's not even really a shell), and all the 'cmdlets' are mostly targeted at specific products (Exchange etc).

They're forever reinventing the wheel with the shell. I just wish they'd do something with bash/ssh, proven for many many many years, rather than waste their time with crap like this [Windows Remote Shell]

When you use WinRS to execute a command, the request is sent to the listener on the remote box. A command prompt is then launched, the command is executed, the reulsts(sic) are captured, the command prompt is closed, and the results are returned to the original box and displayed.
<snip>
Currently any commands you execute can’t be interactive or prompt for input. WinRS just executes what you specify and returns the results. Therefore, if you are using something like netsh, you need to include the full command string to execute.

Utterly useless.

[/random rant]

[Burble]

If Alex already has SSH setup then an SSH tunnel is an option. I keep meaning to setup an IPSEC VPN to my PIX but am a lazy sod so haven't got around to it yet. I can't make RDP connections to my VM's from outside so I tunnel them via an SSH tunnel to one of the Linux VM's.

I've been avoiding WinRS for exactly that reason.

[Daz]

I've got a PPTP server running on my buntu box. Not as secure I know, but it's the only thing I'm pretty much guaranteed to find a client for on every PC I use, and it's way better than nothing at all!